When Sweet and Sour had a Spawn
by LitaE
Summary: All it took was one reckless mistake for Juliet's life to spiral out of control. How will she handle finally dating Shawn while pregnant with Carlton's baby? How do the two different men handle it? What will be the result of it all? Shules and Lassiet
1. The Smart Acting Stupid

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything/anyone to do with the show Psych.

Inspired by the little ficlet "When Life Hands You Lemons" I originally posted, this multi-chapter fic was born. After I wrote it and posted it, the ideas came in and so I scrapped the one-shot and am now going to continue with this one. Hope you enjoy this :-)

* * *

**WHEN SWEET AND SOUR HAD A SPAWN**

**Part 1:** The Smart Acting Stupid

Juliet didn't know why she considered it a good idea. Then again, maybe that was the point. Being herself had only succeeded in hurting her. After all these years she'd finally shut off the considerate conscience in her mind and done something completely reckless.

She kept going over the sequence of events in her mind, as though there was some kind of clue she missed. There was nothing that indicated that she would end up in her current state. At least nothing on her side of the equation. Juliet had never wanted or even planned crossing that line, both for personal and professional reasons, and was certainly never intending to be the initiator. The only explanation she could fathom for her actions was that after everything that happened, being in Santa Barbara had finally made her crack.

For four years she'd been practically friendless. Any attempts to try had been thwarted by mistakes, criminals, lawsuits and reluctantly falling for one of them. Relationships were pretty non-existent and the few she did have went no-where. The recent rejection by Shawn didn't help matters at all in the romance department. Even her thriving career had its setbacks. Juliet had fought hard to claw her way into her current position. Things were a lot better than when she first arrived but it wasn't hard to notice and feel the subtle ways she'd been held back.

Juliet was so sure her life would be better than this. A smart woman was sure to have everything figured out. A sweet woman was bound to be surrounded by people who loved and cared for her. A strong woman would fight and make her dreams come true. That is what she had grown up to believe.

Unfortunately, Juliet no longer believed in the virtuosity of patience. Too many broken dreams had finally broken her spirit enough to numb her.

As she stared up at the ceiling of the motel room, deeming the dull white colour more fascinating than anything else in the world, Juliet gave herself a mental pat on the back for lasting this long. She had remained strong and sweet for as long as she could, which was certainly an accomplishment in her position. Her thirst for control, in a life so out of control, had finally erupted and she let out in the only way that opportunity presented.

She finally stared over at her bed companion. Carlton Lassiter, head detective, also Juliet's partner. A man with a few too many issues Carlton, although somewhat handsome and very dedicated, was a far cry from the person Juliet was looking for in life. She never thought she'd start relating to him more and more each day. On the plus side, it helped her understand the older man better which she believed gained his respect. Still it was kind of depressing that her work relationship had become the most significant in her life.

He was sitting over the side of the bed, not looking at Juliet at all. It was hard to believe that merely ten minutes ago he'd been screwing her with such a furious passion. Whether Carlton would admit it or not, she had felt it. For his own reasons, be it sexual frustration, the job or just life in general, he had needed this too.

"Well, this was…interesting." Juliet finally found the courage to speak up. She reached over and ran a hand down Carlton's back in a sort of apologetic gesture. "How are you feeling?"

Carlton recoiled from her touch, almost expecting the younger woman to jump on him again. "How do you think I'm feeling?"

Juliet couldn't blame Carlton for being a little tempestuous. She had impulsively kissed him, practically bruising his lips with her own. Her partner's initial refusal had only made her more determined. The poor guy never stood a chance when four years of bottled up anger finally released itself.

"O'Hara, why did you have to do this?" Carlton ran his hands through his hair.

"I don't know. I guess I just needed to feel something." She replied, feeling a little silly with her answer.

"So you jump on me, kiss me and make me get this hotel room all because you needed to feel something?" His disbelief was clear in his tone, along with his bubbling fury. "Do you know how much trouble this causes?"

Juliet's edgy side suddenly reappeared. The last thing she needed was to be blamed solely for the last hour of their lives. She loudly snapped at him. "Well if I recall correctly Carlton, it takes two to tango and you weren't exactly complaining!"

Carlton finally turned around to look at her with blue eyes ablaze. "It's not like you gave me much of a choice. You practically attacked me! What did you expect?"

"Screw you." Juliet, suddenly aware of her nakedness, ripped the sheet from the bed and covered herself with it. She vigorously began collecting her clothes from the floor.

"Oh you've already done that, O'Hara." Carlton muttered sarcastically, loud enough for the blonde woman to hear him.

Juliet stood by the bathroom door, actually meeting Carlton's eyes for the first time since there simultaneous climax. "Excuse me but who's the famous head detective who has made a habit of sleeping with his partners. Maybe you should stop criticising me and we'll both agree that this will never happen again."

"That's certainly a given!"

She slammed the door, leaving Carlton in the room alone. The man began gathering his clothes off the floor. He could understand Juliet's side of things, knowing that he could have stopped it at any time. Carlton wasn't so much mad at her but rather at himself for giving in once again.

But it was something about the look on her face. He recognised that look, or rather the feeling behind it. The first step before work and cases became the only outlet. Carlton had seen the perky blonde woman's gradual migration into cynicism, much slower than his own of course. As much as her optimism sometimes irritated him over the years, the head detective admired that Juliet still kept a part of her true, kind self alive in the world of the SBPD.

The bathroom door creaked open and Juliet peeked out with guilty eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I kind of went crazy on you back in the car. It's just that…"

"Save it for when I have clothes on." Carlton covered his naked nether regions with the jacket in his hand, a pointless move as Juliet had seen everything anyway.

"Okay." She replied sweetly. Clearly her anger had left, leaving the sensitive Juliet that everyone knew and loved. "But could you hand me my bra please."

Carlton looked at the offending black bra sitting at his feet. It was supportive yet sexy, much like the woman who wore it. He kicked it with his foot, almost not wanting to touch it.

Juliet rolled her eyes and stepped out of the bathroom with only her bottom-half clothed. She bent down and picked up the bra without a care. It wasn't like Carlton hadn't seen everything she had to offer.

"I would have thrown it to you." The head detective told her with a slight stammer.

Juliet slipped the bra on swiftly. "You know I'm going to need a ride home, right?" She walked back to the bathroom but not before hearing Carlton's last comment.

"She's not even that hot." He muttered to himself, once again loud enough for Juliet to hear.

Knowing that less than half an hour ago her partner had said something very much to the contrary, Juliet felt the need to quip back. "Keep telling yourself that."

The moment the bathroom door shut behind her, concealing her in privacy, Juliet's confidence immediately fell. What the heck had she turned into? As she dressed herself completely she repeated affirmations, vowing that this incident was a one off mistake that would never happen again.

Nothing was going to change.


	2. Playing With Fire

**Part 2: Playing with Fire**

Juliet had been right. Nothing had changed in a month. In fact, her and Carlton's shared secret seemed only to improve their work ethic. Either that or they were so desperate to forget they buried themselves in work and denial to prevent any thoughts drifting back to that evening.

Things were looking up. But soon enough Juliet could feel the effects of burn out hitting her. After nearly passing out at her desk from excessive tiredness, the woman vowed to stop using work to avoid her problems. Simply not talking about it had been good enough for all those weeks, it would have to do.

Juliet handed in her paperwork to the chief, completed and checked to perfection. She felt a little nauseous but managed a smile for Karen. Unfortunately it seemed like that morning's breakfast wasn't agreeing with her and she gagged a little.

"Are you alright Detective O'Hara?" Chief Vick stared at Juliet with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think cereal may have been out of date this morning." She confidently stood up and stubbornly pushed down any desire to wretch.

"You know, you have been working very hard lately. I know you're a good cop, you have nothing more to prove."

"I know." Juliet replied somewhat bluntly, unaware her face was turning pale.

Chief Vick looked at her door briefly before motioning Juliet closer. "Listen, I realise that things lately have been a little rough but I'm not going to let you turn into another Lassiter, okay. You can be a good cop and have a life, O'Hara."

The detective nodded in reply, though only half paying attention. "I'll keep that in mind."

Juliet turned on her heel and left the office, feeling her stomach do a queasy flip. She made her way back to her desk, glad to finally be able to sit down. Unfortunately, any hopes of relaxing for even a moment in her chair faded when she saw it was occupied.

Shawn was staring at her seriously. It was rare that his looks were so earnest. Juliet had been expecting a moment like this sooner or later. However, she would have preferred it happening when she wasn't straddling the borderline of sick.

"You wouldn't be avoiding me by any chance? Remember what happened the last time we tried that? We're in too deep to try and run away, Jules." Shawn spun around in the chair before bringing it to face her again. "Then again it looks like they have been working you too hard. Are you okay?"

"Will you just please get out of my chair?" Juliet pleaded, not in the mood to speak to Shawn whether the pseudo-psychic was being serious or playful.

"Only if you promise that we can hang out after work, just the two of us."

Juliet shook her head, trying to control her increasingly agitated tone. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Shawn's expression fell slightly as he leaned forward in the chair. "I know after everything…Look, things suck and I miss you."

"I just don't feel too good." It was true but the woman knew that she also had to fight that hold that Shawn had on her.

"Come on." Shawn made a preying motion with his hands. "Please Jules. Please please please."

"Okay fine!" She snapped, more to get him to shut up rather than a desire to work things out. "Shawn, just let me sit down. I'm exhausted."

Shawn enthusiastically stood up before his look turned instantly into concern. "Jules are you alright?" He led her over to the chair, motioning for her to sit down. "Maybe we could stay at home and I could take care of you. Watch TV, make you some chicken soup. I have an excellent bedside manner."

In an attempt to avoid the question Juliet's attention was drawn to her desk calendar, something she never really paid attention to. Now it was alerting her to something potentially life-changing. Suddenly, everything she had been trying to hold down was fighting its way out. Shawn's words were just waves of noise to her now.

"Move Shawn!"

Juliet leaped up from her chair and sprinted in her heels towards the bathroom. She barely had time to lock the stall behind her before filling the porcelain bowl. Sliding her back against the wall, she tried every explanation in the book.

Twelve days late. Even explaining that away with job stress was pushing it. There was only one way to know for sure. The one last hope she had of this not being real.

* * *

Juliet had bought six kits in three different brands and all of them said the same thing. Within five minutes blue lines, pink plus signs and different coloured paper strips were staring her in the face. There was not a negative test in the bunch.

It was official. Juliet O'Hara was one month pregnant with Carlton's Lassiter's baby.

She didn't know how long she kept staring at them, unable to condone the possibility of six false positives despite how much she wished it. In one frustrated movement she swept all the tests into the waste basket.

Looking in the mirror, Juliet swore at the reflection staring back at her. Over and over she swore her frustration out until she calmed down.

"This is why you don't do impulsive things like that. Stupid, stupid!"

Sighing to herself, Juliet straightened up and stared her reflection right in the face. This was not going to bring her down, there were options these days. It wasn't the end of the world.

She smiled to herself, talking into the mirror. "Okay O'Hara. You can do this. Now you have a choice. You can either have this baby…or not. God this is hopeless!"

Juliet walked out of her bathroom and paced the hallway. She weighed up the options in her mind, speaking aloud her mental notes.

"Well, I can't have it can I? I have my career ahead of me and its Carlton's baby! We all know there is no hope there. There is a reason Lassiter doesn't have kids. You know the right thing to do here."

"But then, I've always wanted children. It would be so cool if it was a girl. Who knows if I'd get another chance? I mean, it's not like anyone else is lining up. Besides with a little…teaching, Carlton could be great. It's not like he'd be around all the time anyway."

"Come on, O'Hara. You can't have it! There is no way you can have this baby. By all means you could adopt it out, but then you have to go through all the labour pain not to mention the leave from work only to give it up and have to prove yourself all over again."

Finalising her decision, Juliet grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She hesitated for a moment after she shut it behind her. Juliet held her stomach briefly, allowing one last fantasy.

"Okay, that's enough."

She drove her car to the Santa Barbara Planned Parenthood, hoping that no-one from work would notice her casually slipping in. As it turned out, that wouldn't be the case.

Police vehicles were swarming around the small building. Juliet parked her car and inspected the scene. She hopped out and slowly made her way over for a closer look.

"Son of a bitch!"

"O'Hara what are you doing here? I thought you weren't well." Lassiter appeared in front of his partner, stunning her. "What are you wearing?"

Juliet suddenly remembered she was in jeans and a t-shirt as opposed to her suit. "I was feeling a little better and was told to come down here. What happened?"

Lassiter was about to explain the situation before he was interrupted. As if on cue, Shawn appeared with his hand to his head. He drew all attention to him. The head detective rolled his eyes and for once Juliet was having a similar annoyed reaction.

"Oh my gosh it's horrible. There's four of them. Boom! Boom! A group of, fantastic? The Fantastic Four! Wait a second…they're at a bar. Having cocktails?"

"Fanatics!" Juliet answered him, her tone almost raging. "You mean that fanatical anti-abortion gang that's been wrecking these places up and down the California coast. They struck here?"

"With the same Molotov cocktail used at the others." Lassiter replied, shooting an irked look at Shawn for being somewhat right in his episode.

"What are the odds?" Juliet muttered through gritted teeth.

"What happened to good old fashioned pro-life protest signs?" Shawn shook his head, eyeing the burned out area of the building.

Lassiter couldn't resist making a remark. "Ironic Spencer since you're a prime example in the case for pro-choice."

"Now that's just cruel Lassy. Where's the love?" Shawn eyed the two detectives, in particular the blonde one. "Jules, what are you doing here? I guess you're feeling better, which means we can finally hang out this evening. I'm not going to let you stand me up again."

"Not now Shawn." Juliet shuddered slightly. The fanatics couldn't have picked a worse time. "I have to go."


	3. What to Do?

**Part 3: What to do?**

After running around all morning, Juliet finally managed to sneak a moment to herself. She flipped through the numbers her doctor had listed to provide "certain services", a list which had come with a judgemental look that would have been wise not to shoot at a panicking pregnant woman. Now she was really hoping someone could catch the fanatics who made something simple more complicated.

Making sure she was completely alone in the police station's bathroom, Juliet began entering the number on her cell phone. There was no way she was going to risk being overheard in the department's bull pen, particularly since Lassiter was lurking around.

There was a moment of hesitation. Her thumb hovered over the dial button as she couldn't help reconsidering her options. It was a last ditch effort to find a way around things. Juliet stroked her stomach, thinking of the possibilities if circumstances were different. For a moment she lowered her cell phone and sighed. She knew deep down that as happy as a child could make her, it was unfair to use it as a quick fix for life. Yet something in her subconscious forced her to rethink everything.

Juliet pressed the key to dial and forced herself to make an appointment with the first place on the list. Once she confirmed her time, a wave of relief washed over her. It was a tough decision though logically she knew it was the right choice. Now more than ever she wanted to get things over with. If things continued much longer, there was a great possibility of losing her nerve.

Juliet managed a courageous smile for the first time in days, until the morning sickness took hold. She ducked into a stall, not even bothering to lock the door.

"I'll be glad when this is over."

No-one noticed as she walked out of the ladies room and threw the little piece of paper in the trash. There was no reason for anyone to be suspicious. It was the one advantage of being in a station dominated by men, her secret was safe and surely would remain that way for one more day.

Juliet went back to her desk and resumed looking at the crime scene pictures she'd been mulling over for a while. Her gut feeling told her there was a clue in there somewhere. She just had to find it. But with rape crime scene photos that were hard enough to look at and her mind being elsewhere, looking for any clue was much harder then usual.

"Detective O'Hara, aren't you looking lovely this morning."

Juliet turned to the source of the voice to find Shawn, carrying a pineapple wrapped in a pretty pink bow. She managed to smile sweetly at his comment although, since she had just been sick, Juliet was sure he was lying.

"What do you want Shawn?" She asked him nicely, though something in the back of her mind was trying to pull her back.

He put the pineapple on her desk and knelt down in front of her so they were eye to eye. "I have this really cool speech prepared. So you have to stay until I say the whole thing. No leaving or avoiding me, promise?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Lassiter appeared by the two of them as if by magic. He had his game face on, showing anyone in sight that he meant business. "O'Hara, we have to move now." Lassiter' s eyes fell to Shawn, who had his mouth open in preparation to speak. "As for you, you stay far away."

"We'll talk later Shawn." Juliet let him down gently as she grabbed her things. Sometimes she wished she could hate him but even as she turned away, the woman knew she'd eventually cave in. They were just too close.

Shawn touched her arm, seriousness in his hazel eyes. "How about this evening?"

"Later." Juliet replied bluntly. She did want to talk to Shawn and prove she wasn't avoiding him. However, she didn't want to have a Lassiter present at their conversation, even if that particular Lassiter was the size of a peanut and didn't technically have ears yet.

"Lunch tomorrow?" The fake psychic had followed her all the way to the parking lot and now power walked beside her, proving just how hard he was to avoid.

"I have a doctor's appointment." Juliet quickened her pace to catch up to Carlton. To reassure Shawn, she yelled behind her. "Tomorrow. Dinner."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Shawn had a happy skip in his step as he walked back into the station. He knew he'd messed things up royally when it came to Juliet. To his defence, she had rejected him first. But now he had a chance, and everything felt right, the pseudo-psychic was adamant about working things out this time.

On his way to Chief Vick's office, he noticed the pineapple still sitting on Juliet's desk. Figuring it would be a shame to waste good fruit, he strolled over to pick it up. While thinking about whether or not to save it for the next day, he spotted a piece of paper in the trash with doctor's letterhead and a list.

Suddenly, everything began to fall into place. Juliet at the Planned Parenthood in plain clothes on her sick day. The sudden bug she seemed to have caught. The sheet full of numbers, one which Shawn recognised as an abortion clinic.

"Jules is pregnant."

* * *

Shawn drummed his hand impatiently on the desk in the Psych office. For over an hour he'd been trying to work out what to do with his new found information. Realising that two heads were better than one, along with needing someone to rant to, he'd called his best friend out of work desperately.

Finally Gus came briskly through the door with the requested smoothies and his supply case. His look was the same annoyed yet curious one as all the other times Shawn had called him out of work. "This better be important, Shawn. I've told you time and time again about-"

"Okay, it won't happen again." Shawn replied half-heartedly before pointing to their drawing board. On it he had written the list of the few places and numbers he had seen on Juliet's paper. "What can you tell me about these places?"

"You dragged me here to look at numbers?" Gus glanced at the list for a moment. "We supply to the third one, small stuff really. Why couldn't you just let me help you on this case over the phone?"

"Oh it's not a case." Shawn stated, biting his bottom lip. He wondered if he should tell Gus the whole truth as it was Juliet's private life.

"So you called me out of my real job for nothing…Wait a minute." Gus studied the numbers once again. Having the uptake on most medical practices and clinics in the area, he knew what the places listed had in common. "Shawn you did not go out and get some rebound girl pregnant!"

"Relax." Shawn spoke in his assuring tone. "It's Jules that's pregnant."

"What?! When did you and Juliet hook up?!" Gus needed to sit down due to all the bits of information flowing in and messing with his mind. "You've finally done it this time. Vick is going to kill you not to mention Lassiter's probably going to be pissed. How hard is it to use a condom?"

"Actually Gus it's pointless to use a condom when you're not having sex. Unless of course you're making water balloons." Shawn laughed at the suggestion put in front of him. He may have been somewhat carefree with his choice of partners, but always had protection handy. "Dude, it's not mine!"

"Then explain to me why we are talking about this?" Gus rubbed his temples as he felt the all too familiar beginnings of a Shawn induced head spin.

"Jules doesn't know that I know. I found these numbers in her trash." Shawn began pacing the room, sipping his smoothie and feeling more antsy than usual. "I think she's planning to get rid of little Millicent."

"You were looking through her trash?" Gus wasn't sure why he found himself surprised. "Besides, what makes you think she's going for a termination. She did throw the list out."

"One, I just saw the paper and couldn't help but notice what was on it." Shawn faced his best friend with hands on hips. "To answer your second question, she had a doctor's appoitnment tomorrow."

"Listen Shawn, I know you care about her. Heck I'm sure that everybody around the world knows and is just as sick of the will they won't they drama. But this is absolutely none of our business." Gus stood up, hoping the stance would emphasise his important point. "We can't just go snooping around in our friend's lives. This is Juliet's problem and given the fact that she didn't tell you, she obviously doesn't want you to know."

"So you're wondering who the baby daddy is too?" The fake psychic raised a knowing eyebrow at the pharmaceutical rep.

"No Shawn. I'm leaving. I'm going to respect Juliet's privacy and you should too."

While Gus was a little curious as to who had impregnated Juliet, his morals were higher up on the scale. It was easy for him to write it off as a one night stand gone awry, not that it was any of his business if that was the situation. Then again, he wasn't the one with potentially deep feelings for the woman. As he picked up his case and stormed out of the office, Gus preyed his best friend would see things like he did. Even though he knew that Shawn was not going to let this one go.

Since he'd never been one for obeying any order given to him, Shawn sat around for a while and pondered what to do. He admitted that Gus had a point about Juliet's privacy. It almost seemed unfair that he knew her secret but she could never know his.

Shawn shook his head and rubbed the numbers off the board. He turned away and vowed to let it go. Chances are within a day it wouldn't be an issue, since an abortion was imminent. Besides, what chance would he and Juliet have for a relationship if someone else's child was involved?

However, Shawn couldn't ignore the part of him that knew Juliet a little too well. He knew that deep down, even though she was seemingly sticking to her decision, the detective hadn't truly made up her mind. Juliet was good with kids and clearly wanted at least one of her own. Plus he had seen the looks on her face lately, distracted and depressed. She was clearly burdened by something other than being pregnant.

The one thing that bugged him more than anything was that he couldn't figure out who the father was. There was no plausible possibility or evidence pointing to anyone in particular. Plus if it was someone close or even a secret boyfriend, Juliet would have no doubt told the person instead of acting so secretive.

Everything pointed to a simple one night stand disaster; even though Shawn personally couldn't believe that someone could only spend one night with the beautiful woman. The thought of another man using Juliet in such a way made anger bubbles up inside his belly.

His head was debating the next course of action before he finally picked up the phone. Remembering the first number from the list her dialled and waited for a friendly receptionist voice on the other end.

"Yes, this is Antonio Maraschino, Juliet O'Hara's personal assistant. I'm just calling to reconfirm the time for her appointment tomorrow."

* * *

**NOTE:** So what's going to happen next for Juliet? What's Shawn up to? What about poor oblivious Carlton? You shall find out soon enough! Thanks for reading, hope you like :-)


	4. The Head and the Heart

**Part 4: The Head and the Heart**

Juliet had been sitting in the front passenger seat while Carlton drove. She knew that the case at hand should have had her full attention but her heart wasn't in it. For the last five minutes she'd been attempting to read the same paragraph of scribbled notes. Giving up on trying, she knew it would all be better once everything was back to normal.

She glanced at the clock, realising her appointment was in thirty minutes. For some reason the time had seemed to go so quickly yet simultaneously not fast enough. Juliet took in a deep breath to calm herself down, taking in the uninteresting scenery passing by the windows. It was something to keep her mind off the fact that in half an hour, she wouldn't be pregnant anymore.

But since at that moment she was, being around Carlton made her anxious. Something inside urged her to tell him the truth. Did he not have a right to know that she was getting rid of his baby? It was hard to believe that just five weeks ago the conscience that plagued her now had been ignored so easily.

"Okay that's it! This is too weird." Carlton suddenly cried out.

Juliet practically jumped out of her seat, her heart pounding even faster than before. "What? What do you mean?"

"You. You're just so quiet." Carlton commented while eyeing her briefly, as if to check it was really Juliet in the car. "The truth is, I've become used to you talking about well, stuff. But this last month…can't you just go on about something like you used to?"

"That's almost kind of sweet." Juliet couldn't help but smile as she glanced back at her partner.

"Don't go there O'Hara." Carlton warned. He felt a little wary when forced to stop at the traffic lights.

Juliet could spot his nervousness right away. It was understandable since this was the precise situation that had led to her jumping on Carlton and getting herself pregnant in the first place. In fact she was sure they were at the exact intersection where she had first kissed him. But rather than be angry at his gruff persona, the woman couldn't resist teasing him.

"Don't go where, Lassiter?"

Carlton mumbled in reply and Juliet suppressed a giggle. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a last glimpse of her baby's father. Sure, he was kind of a grump but it was only because he was so dedicated to doing his best. Plus over the years, Juliet had learned of the man's secret sensitive side. She was sure that if he had someone steady, Carlton would be almost human.

Without realising it, her hand had migrated to her stomach. Juliet gasped and gripped both her knees tightly, hoping that her partner hadn't noticed. She shook her head in shame, unable to grasp the belief that Lassiter would possibly be okay with fathering a child. It was silly to think that would work and Juliet wondered why she had even pondered the possibility.

"Are you okay?"

Her jumpy behaviour had not gone unnoticed. Juliet glanced at the clock and figured that the sooner she was away from Carlton, the better. A waiting room was surely better than contemplating any form of attachment to the head detective. She couldn't allow herself to actually start finding him an attractive option, especially since in that particular light his handsome features stood out.

"Yeah, I just have a doctor's appointment. Could you drive me?" Juliet asked, managing a happy face for him.

"Hopefully it's not contagious." Carlton seemed to shift away from her. As far as he knew, Juliet had caught a bug and he didn't want to get sick. "Maybe afterwards you'll go back to normal. You promised things wouldn't get weird."

"Well they are and I'm not feeling well." Juliet hoped her firmness would wrap up the awkward conversation. "Now please just drive me to my appointment."

After giving him the directions, they drove in silence to the small building. Juliet was a little too eager to get out of the car that she had opened the door before Carlton had stopped completely. She gave a small silent wave as she hopped out, forcing a smile in his direction. A pang of guilt was felt as she watched him drive away but Juliet soldiered on towards the building.

He wouldn't have wanted this. She couldn't deal with this. This was the way it had to be.

"I can't let you do it Jules!"

A voice rang out from behind her, paralysing the blonde woman a mere five steps from the entrance. She shut her eyes and wished with all her might that he wasn't there. But she could feel his presence. When she allowed her eyes to open, she could see Shawn's reflection in the window of the building.

"What are you doing here?" Juliet managed to get the words out.

Soon Shawn was right beside her, turning her to him. "Psychic, remember. I just felt that you needed me." He stroked her arm with gentleness. "Talk to me Jules. I know you're conflicted about this."

"Don't do this right now." She replied with a stubborn gaze. But with her feeling increasingly upset, Juliet's resolve was falling. "You can't stop me, Shawn."

"But I can feel that you don't want to do what we both know you're going in there to do." Shawn darted in front of Juliet as she tried to slip past him. "I can sense your hesitation."

"Yeah, well sense this!" With a firm hand, Juliet slapped Shawn across the face. "You have no idea what I'm going through."

Shawn could see the anger in her eyes as he held his cheek. It was a warning not to pursue. But he couldn't ignore the part of him that had to interfere. He couldn't understand what it was about Juliet that made him act like an extreme idiot or a whipped boyfriend, but the blonde woman had a hold on him. Letting her go was not an option.

"That's why I'm here, to help you through it. I care about you Jules. I really do." Shawn could actually feel tears coming to his own eyes as he spotted the ones forming in hers.

"You know what? It's too late. Those words have lost all meaning coming from you." Juliet shot back with a tone more hurtful than she intended. "Please just mind your own business and stay away from me."

For once in his life, Shawn fought every natural impulse and decided to do what he was told. He began to pace away very slowly, hoping Juliet would have a change of heart. But as she turned away it was clear that she was not planning to stop him. It was an action that hurt him more than he expected.

Juliet bit her lip, stubbornly trying to suppress the fact that Shawn was right. Her hand shook as it reached for the door handle. There was always a part of her that didn't want to do this. It didn't take a psychic to tell her that.

Once again, thanks to the pseudo-psychic, Juliet burst into tears.

* * *

Shawn had no idea how to redeem himself with Juliet. His mind refused to accept the fact that there was no chance for them. Everything was in place now. He didn't even care about her pregnancy. All Shawn wanted was to finally be with Juliet after all these years.

After seeing Juliet that afternoon, Shawn had been seeking advice from all over. Unfortunately all Gus could give him was an "I told you not to get involved" speech with a small side of sympathy. Then something similar had come from Henry Spencer's mouth not even twenty minutes later, though much less comforting. As a last resort he'd gone to McNab and casually tried to lure some tips out of him but even the habitually naïve cop was being subtly judgemental.

He hadn't gone to Lassiter for woman advice for obvious reasons, but the head detective had overheard him chatting with Buzz and offered his input. For some reason Carlton seemed even more smug than usual. He simply remarked that O'Hara was too good for him, before giving a strangely arrogant smirk. Shawn didn't have the strength to care what it meant.

It wasn't like Shawn to give up. He certainly didn't want to. But all the evidence strongly suggested throwing in the towel.

The door to the Psych office suddenly opened. Shawn jumped at the interruption of his thoughts. He considered himself lucky that he had decided against watching Friday the 13th that evening.

"Shawn, are you in here?" Juliet peeked around the corner.

Shawn spun his chair around to face her, putting on a movie accent. "I've been expecting you."

"Look, about before." Juliet managed a slight laugh before shrugging. "Turns out you were right."

"I often am." Shawn stood up and walked over to her. Seeing her displeased reaction to his joke, he turned on his serious switch. "I'm sorry for being a bit of an ass. Well, I'm sorry for a lot of stuff up to this point."

"I'm sorry I slapped you." Juliet replied, looking up into his eyes. "But you know how crazy you make me and now this. Fate never seems to be on our side."

"It doesn't matter to me about, you know." The man explained, pulling her into a half hug and still keeping eye contact. "I'll be here for you."

"I have no idea what I'm doing or why I'm doing this or how I'm going to tell-"

Shawn comforted her, moving his face closer. "None of that matters right now. What matters is just this moment. Right here, with me. We can work the rest out later."

Juliet could feel their faces touching. Nervousness overtook her but somehow she couldn't pull away. There was always something so right about Shawn. They were drawn to each other.

"How can you be so sure things will work out?" At this point she was whispering against his cheek. "Especially after everything we've been through."

"Because things have been against us for too long that we're due for a good run." Shawn's lips were now touching hers ever so slightly.

Juliet pulled away. "No, I can't do it. I'm carrying someone else's baby for crying out loud and well…you broke my heart."

"And I've regretted it ever since." Shawn explained, trying to coax Juliet back to him. "Please."

"Plus now I'll get fat and moody and apparently very gassy. Remember what the Chief was like? You'll just hurt me again." She put her head in her hands, wanting to leave but sitting down in the nearest chair instead. "I shouldn't feel this way about you. I can't ask you to take care of someone elses child."

"So you're just going to throw away what could be our last chance?" Shawn plopped down on the armrest of the chair.

Juliet shook her head and scoffed. "How many signs do we need before we realise this isn't going to happen?"

"The only sign I need is that you're here. You could have walked away, but you don't want to." Just as she was looking to stand up, Shawn grabbed her arm to prevent her. He cupped her face and moved back in. "The spirits say no more excuses."

Without even waiting for a reply, he pressed his lips onto hers. Although the fear tried to hold her back, Juliet gave in and let Shawn kiss her. It was deep and full of emotions that had been long suppressed. Finally their arms wrapped around each other as they both surrendered to their feelings. Just as the pseudo-psychic had predicted, in that moment when their lips moved together as one, nothing else mattered.

* * *

**NOTE:** You don't have to wait long for updates on this one :-) Thanks to those who are reading/reviewing this story. So now that Jules had decided to keep the baby and give Shawn a chance, what the heck is this chick going to go through now? As for poor oblivious Carlton, he's in for a surprise...question is when? You'll find out soon.


	5. Half Truths

**Part 5: Half Truths**

It was surprising how supportive Shawn had been throughout their first few weeks of dating. Due to her pregnancy and all that came with it Juliet kept waiting for him to run away but she had underestimated the determination of her new found boyfriend. She had many thoughts and fantasies of being with the man but nothing was what she expected, in both good and bad light.

Their first date at the movies she kept needing to pee, much to her embarrassment. Then their second date attempt was ruined by morning sickness which lasted practically all day. By the third date, mood swings had become more frequent due to her body's small but significant changes but it was clear that Shawn wasn't leaving. Beyond the forth and fifth dates, Juliet found herself feeling uplifted by Shawn caring so much.

"Juliet, I managed to get this sample from the office." Gus handed Juliet a paper bag, looking around as though paranoid people were watching. "These are some of the top pre-natal vitamins. Just don't tell anyone I did this."

She peeked in the bag and couldn't stop herself from groaning. "It would have been better if it was a sandwich. God I could use a sandwich right now."

"Gus, stop pitching the pregnancy pills and come check this out." Shawn had been surfing the web on his laptop from his chair beside Juliet.

The blonde woman peeked over at the screen. Gus rolled his eyes, feeling a little unappreciated, before coming to look. On the screen was a website about pregnancy. Shawn had it up to the appropriate week, showing the picture of what the baby would roughly look like.

"I totally looked hotter than that in the womb." Shawn commented before reading the attached information. "On the plus side the morning sickness should be easing up soon. Not to mention your boobs will just keep getting bigger."

"On the downside, you'll get some mood swings." Gus stated with a disguised personal attack behind his tone.

"Sorry for craving a freaking sandwich. Maybe it's because I've been so sick that I'm hungry and exhausted all the time. Shawn, why did you have to say anything?" Juliet looked away from the screen and sighed as she sunk into her chair. She paused for a second and regained her calmness. "I'm sorry Gus, the vitamins were really thoughtful. I just don't want the father finding out before I have a chance to tell him."

"But sweetie, I tell Gus everything. Unless…" Shawn's mouth opened in shock and he jokingly continued. "Gus is the father."

Gus rolled his eyes. "No I'm not the father and frankly it's _none of our business who the father is_."

"Could you repeat that Gus? I don't think Argentina got the hint." Shawn set his laptop aside and turned his attention to Juliet. His face turned serious when he noticed her sadness. "Jules, I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Juliet bit her lip, fighting some tears. She managed a soft reply. "Yeah, I just don't know what I'm going to say to him."

"If you want, I'll come with you for moral support." Shawn offered, just so she'd know he was there. "Gus can come too. We'll make a road trip out of it."

Juliet managed a laugh before suddenly remembering Shawn's particular specialty. A wave of panic crashed over her. "Oh my god. Do you know who the father is? Have you divined it or something? Oh no, he's going to find out. What the hell did you do that for?"

"Calm down my lady." Shawn rubbed his girlfriend's shoulders before pulling her into his lap. "Even if the spirits wanted to tell me, I would block it out. I don't want to even think about another man touching you."

Juliet smiled at his kind words and swiftly kissed Shawn with all the emotion she had, which was a lot at this point. Part of it was to express how much she cared but there was also a sense of relief at knowing her new boyfriend had no idea about Lassiter.

"I think I'm going to go now." Gus took the couple's making out as a sign to go grab some lunch. "Juliet, do you still want a sandwich?"

"Gus, we don't mean to make you uncomfortable. Please, sit and talk about the magic gooey jellybean that is currently growing inside my girlfriend." Shawn patted the now empty chair beside him and Juliet.

"That magical jellybean is called a foetus which at this point is growing tiny joints. Now I'm going to get some lunch."

"Dude, there's left over jerk chicken in the fridge." Shawn informed his friend before turning to continue affections with his lady.

Before the pseudo-psychic's lips could touch hers again, Juliet practically leaped off his lap at the mere suggestion of food. "Dibs!"

* * *

The case was finally solved. It had been a tough one, made a little more so by Juliet's distraction. She cursed herself for not spotting the clue which Shawn had found in the photos almost instantly, even though she'd spent many lunchtimes looking.

But then Carlton appeared by her side with the respective criminal cuffed and all thoughts regarding the case were unimportant once again. Together they walked back to the police cruiser, Juliet feeling like a zombie as she went through the motions.

It was hard to believe that having a violent yet smart rapist in the back seat was a comfort. But at this point Juliet would have done anything not to be alone with Carlton. She knew she had to tell him before the ultrasound, which is why she'd purposely booked it two weeks in advance despite the openings beforehand.

She turned to him. He looked so happy yet cocky, like he always did when a case under his care was wrapped up. Juliet forced smiles as they drove to the police station.

In the side view mirror, the blonde detective caught a glimpse of the familiar car following them. No doubt Shawn and Gus were looking forward to picking up their pay.

Juliet stared at the reflection as she heard Carlton say something. Suddenly she had a pause. Her heart beat fast and she couldn't help but wonder if Shawn could get a vision from simply seeing her and Carlton together. Suddenly the morning sickness which had been somewhat under control for days wanted to burst forth.

"Pull over." Juliet said, gripping the door handle until her fist whitened.

Carlton kept looking at the road, but Juliet could spot the frazzled look on his face. "Are you nuts O'Hara, we have to book this sicko!"

Not in the mood to be disobeyed, Juliet grabbed Carlton's wrist. "Pull the car over right now! Oh crap." Unable to hold it, she opened the window as fast as possible.

The head detective's eyes went wide as he heard his partner vomiting out of the moving vehicle. Some of it splattered on the back door window. Shocked as anything, he pulled over to the side of the road as fast as possible.

"For god's sake, O'Hara."

Juliet ignored his agitation, opening the door and leaning over into the gutter. Every sick feeling inside of her manifested. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away before Carlton could notice.

Carlton reached over and placed a compassionate hand on Juliet's back in his best attempt to offer comfort. "Are you okay?" He turned to the criminal in the back seat. "See there Hugo, your actions make women physically sick."

Juliet filled her lungs with much needed air and took her seat back in the car. She motioned for Carlton to move on. The whole car ride, she remained silent out of fear. It was only a matter of time before he found out about his accidental fatherhood. The last thing she wanted was it to be blurted out to Carlton in front of a rapist.

Once back at the station, Juliet let Carlton take their newest arrest while she looked for Shawn. At that moment she could think of nothing else but of that stubbly cheek against her own.

He was by her desk with Gus. She wanted nothing more than to run and collapse in his arms in front of everyone. But things weren't meant to be that way.

"Detective O'Hara. Mr Spencer. Can I see you in my office?" Chief Vick came out and motioned to them.

An overwhelming need to faint overcame Juliet. Fortunately Shawn was behind her, whispering reassurances and ready to catch her. Together they walked to Karen's office, feeling eyes on them as they did so.

"Let's cut to the chase. It's come to my attention that you two are now involved."

Shawn was about to speak up but Juliet squeezed his arm to stop him. It was definitely better at this time for them both to shut up. Chief Vick clearly wasn't up for a two-way discussion on the matter. She was relieved when Shawn obeyed and just simply nodded instead.

"We all know this has been coming for a while. Personally I hoped it wouldn't and in my professional opinion I frown upon it. But now that it has, it better not interfere with any case work."

"I just solve the cases you give me. I can't control what I divine. As you can see, despite me and Detective O'Hara dating, we did catch the bad guy." Shawn pointed out while twiddling his fingers.

"Mr Spencer you may not technically be a member of the SBPD, but at the times you are hired for cases you are not to interact with Detective O'Hara as it may compromise investigations." Chief Vick stared at the pseudo-psychic with earnestness, almost as though she was daring him to cross her. "If you have a vision that involves a case she is working on, report to Detective Lassiter. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Chief." Shawn gave her a salute before taking Juliet's hand in his own. "Besides, more time with Lassie-face. This is a win-win situation. Maybe we'll synchronise watches."

Karen eyed Juliet suspiciously, able to spot the younger woman getting a little paler. Turning her attention back to Shawn, her gaze darted between the two of them. Could it be possible?

"Here's your paycheque. Job well done." The chief handed Shawn the small slip of paper before turning her full attention to Juliet. "Now is there anything else I should know about?"

Before Juliet could simultaneously faint and vomit under Karen's accusing eyes, the phone in the office rang. Chief Vick motioned for the couple to leave, which relieved Juliet greatly. It was a temporary stall but the blonde detective knew her luck wouldn't last too much longer.


	6. Reality Bites a Chocolate Bar

**Part 6: Reality Bites a Chocolate Bar**

The couple were walking down the street, heading to Juliet's first ultrasound. Despite her promise to herself, Juliet still hadn't told Carlton about the baby. Things had been quite hectic at the station, which contributed to her stalling, but admittedly the woman had made no effort to make time. The head detective being a little on edge did nothing to help matters.

"Seriously Jules do you really need all this candy? It looks like you just went trick or treating." Shawn commented as he held up the plastic shopping bag. "Is this just food cravings or are you going for a record?"

"It's not that much. Besides, my body is in demand for extra calories since I'm throwing up all the time." Juliet gave Shawn's hand a warm squeeze. "If you touch any of that candy, I'll know."

"Of course you'll know because I'll be right by your side the entire time." The man wrapped his girlfriend in a playful hug, smothering her neck in a series of kisses.

"Shawn." Juliet stopped her laughter and turned to her boyfriend with serious eyes. She wasn't sure how to make the next words out of her mouth sound inoffensive. "Listen, don't take this the wrong way but-"

"You don't want me in there." The fake clairvoyant completed her sentence, turning away to hide just how offended he was.

"It's just that I'm getting to this point now where my body is starting to get all gross and disgusting." Juliet was worried about how he would react to the explanation.

"What are you talking about? Sweetie, you're barely even showing yet. The only thing that seems to have gotten any bigger is your boobs, which you know I have no problem with." Shawn proceeded in cheekily sliding a hand up her front to cop a feel.

The blonde detective playfully slapped his hand away. "I just hate having everything all on display." She hoped that Shawn wouldn't catch her out on the lie, since her body hadn't changed that much externally.

Shawn raised an eyebrow, knowing that Juliet wasn't telling him the whole truth. "Considering I've already seen you naked, I'm sensing that you haven't quite told me the real reason you don't want me in there."

A sudden mood change shifted Juliet's demeanour and she snapped. "Fine Shawn! I don't want you in there because I don't want to deal with all the questions about the baby's father and I know that it may not seem like much to you but I'm sick of pretending."

She stormed off in the direction they were heading, unsure if she wanted Shawn to follow or not. What she didn't know was how much Shawn truly understood the last comment about being sick of pretending. As much as Juliet's secret about the father bugged him, it was worse not being able to tell her he wasn't psychic. Sometimes he wished he could stop lying to her and drop the act, be a hundred percent real Shawn instead. It was for this reason that the habitual rule breaker decided not to intrude on something that Juliet clearly needed to do alone.

"Jules, it's alright. I won't go in with you if that's what you want." Shawn caught up to her only to catch her crying. He took her back into his arms, this time more tenderly. "I just want you to know I'm here. I don't care whose baby that is, I just care about you."

"You really mean that?" Juliet asked while wiping her eyes. Sometimes her hormone-induced depressive moments had her feeling silly.

"Even if you want to get back with the father." Shawn kissed her on the forehead to cement his statement, even if he secretly hoped that it wouldn't come to that. "Unless the father is Norman Bates, then you're on your own…Okay, please don't get back with the father."

Juliet managed a giggle before teasing her boyfriend. She put on an old lady accent and a wicked smile appeared on her face. "Norman! Norman!"

"Okay, stop that." Shawn held up the candy bag almost like a shield.

Immediately halting her quite close imitation of the Psycho villain, Juliet snatched the bag from Shawn's hand. "Just in case you get any ideas."

The man caught Juliet and pulled her close. He captured her lips in an amazingly deep kiss. Shawn could feel his girlfriend practically melting in his arms. He didn't know he was capable of such an emotional kiss, but once again Juliet had opened up all the possibilities of deeper feelings he had yet to experience.

He kept his forehead pressed to hers as the kiss trailed off. "Now that's just in case _you_ get any ideas."

* * *

Juliet felt a little nervous as she sat on the bed waiting for her scan. Many questions were asked to the point where she felt a little interrogated. But she understood that the doctor was just doing her job and had to know certain details.

The doctor was Dr Lillian Salerno, a middle aged, red-haired lady with a tan to rival Shawn's. Along with her years of experience, she had a sweetness to her which reassured Juliet slightly.

Luckily there had been no questions concerning the father. Although during the conversation Juliet had inadvertently blurted out that the father was not her boyfriend. But there was no judgement like the pregnant woman expected, only a smile.

"You seem a little nervous Miss O'Hara." Dr Salerno commented while putting a compassionate hand on Juliet's shoulder.

"It's just this is my first and I've never done this before. I guess I just hope everything's okay, you know?" Now that everything was starting to happen, a part of Juliet wished that someone was in the room with her.

"I remember what that was like with my eldest. But I've done plenty of these procedures before. Just relax."

Juliet eased onto the bed as the doctor exposed her stomach. She felt a little awkward and shut her eyes to release the tension. Clearing all thoughts and worries helped her get comfortable for the ultrasound.

"We're just going to take a look around." The doctor ran the scanner over Juliet's stomach, looking at the screen as she did so. "Okay, well it's growing in the right place, that's a good start."

Juliet wondered for a moment what was meant by that but as the doctor continued making observations she decided to let it go. Turning to the screen and staring intently, she watched for her baby. She was a little confused as to what she was looking at, trying not to let it show. Then the outline of what appeared to be a small foetus showed up.

"That's your baby right there." The doctor commented, pointing to the screen and drawing the detective's attention. "Very small, but everything seems to be in order."

It may have been just a blob shape with a head, but it filled Juliet's heart with joy. She squinted in order to catch the details that the doctor noticed while exploring the growing baby. A smile came to Juliet's face and she looked to her side, before remembering that neither the baby's father nor her supportive boyfriend was with her.

She tuned out the doctor, who was recording different observations and measurements, and just continued to watch the different angles of her baby on the screen. Then a soft beating sound filled the room, bringing her from the trance. Juliet gasped as she realised was her baby's heart.

"That's amazing." She said, completely awestruck by the rhythmic sound of the heartbeat.

"Quite a strong heart this little one has."

Overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment, a single tear found a way down Juliet's cheek. "Just like the father."

* * *

Desk work was hard enough without adding an uncomfortable skirt to the mix. Juliet squirmed around in her chair, unable to deny her skirt wasn't exactly fitting anymore. Looking around to make sure no-one would notice she carefully slid down the side zipper half way and pulled her blouse over it.

"Much better." Juliet sighed with relief, feeling a little more comfortable.

She went back to concentrating on her reports. Usually paperwork wasn't so bad, despite the desire to be out in the field. But today the detective still found herself to be incredibly restless and frustrated.

She let out a frustrated groan. "This is hopeless." Figuring that she'd earned a chocolate break, Juliet reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a Kit Kat.

Just as she was about to enjoy the first bite, the detective was accosted from behind.

"So Detective O'Hara, when are you due?"

Juliet felt a paralysis overcome her at hearing the Chief's voice. The grip on her chocolate tightened and her mouth remained opened. It took a little while for her to gain the strength to turn around.

"How did-?" Juliet asked dumbly, having no idea what else to say to her boss.

"You think I couldn't spot the signs? It hasn't been that long since I was in your position." Chief Vick looked a little insulted as she explained herself. "Not to mention, there's a sonogram picture in your drawer."

Juliet shut her drawer and looked around to make sure no-one was in ear shot, particularly Carlton. "Do you think anyone else knows?"

"That's not my concern, O'Hara. How long did you think you could keep this a secret?" Karen continued standing firmly over the younger woman.

"I don't know. I guess I didn't know how to bring it up." Juliet sighed and finally stood up. "And I don't want to get stuck at a desk just because I'm pregnant. I mean I'm only like fourteen weeks or so along and I'm barely showing."

"That may be so, but soon enough you are going to show. Even now I can't risk putting you and your baby in too much danger. You have to know your limits, O'Hara."

"I know." Juliet nodded to show she understood, hanging her head.

"In the meantime, you might need this. Not much point to my having it right now." Karen handed over a book on pregnancy week by week.

"Thanks Chief." The younger woman held the book close to her chest to conceal the content. "I would appreciate if you wouldn't spread this around."

"I won't say a word, but I have to question your judgement if you think Mr Spencer hasn't realised."

"Oh no, he knows." Juliet tried to think of an excuse to cover the real reason she didn't want word to spread. As a result, she started rambling. "I just want to be the one that tells people here and I didn't want to tell people until I was sure everything was okay. But judging by my ultrasound, everything's great so I guess I'm going to be telling people soon."

Chief Vick put a hand up to stop Juliet. "Okay O'Hara. But you didn't answer my question. When are you due?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Juliet caught a glimpse of Lassiter at the coffee maker. A half smile played at her lips as she tried to remain cool and calm.

"October twenty-third."

* * *

**NOTE:** Another update! Do you want another one?....Do ya?....I can't hear you! I must say it is interesting since I'm usually a Shassie writer (as a few people reading this probably know) and now I'm writing some sweet Shules. Hopefully I'm pulling it off pretty well. But that's not the main point, is it? The point is how Lassie is going to find out. Something tells me it will be very soon :-) Enjoy people!


	7. Life, Lies and a Lassiter

**Part 7: Life, Lies and a Lassiter**

Lassiter had been having a hectic morning. Firstly there was organising everyone's duties, then questioning some witnesses on a case before finally picking up a guy on another case. Since the chief seemed to excuse O'Hara coming in a little later, Lassiter had done this all solo. The only thing he wanted to do was head down to the gun range and take out all his irritancy on a paper target. Despite how much he loved his job, sometimes being head detective could be a pain in the rear.

"Grand theft auto case, the guy is in interrogation room two." McNab caught up with Lassiter by the coffee maker.

"Great now I have to deal with that as well." Lassiter muttered, giving up on making a coffee for himself.

Luckily when he turned around, O'Hara appeared with a cup of coffee in hand. She offered it to him with what appeared to be a nervous grin.

"Three creams and four sugars." She commented, almost like she was expected a reward for getting his coffee right.

"Thanks." Lassiter was confused at the gesture but nevertheless took the beverage. His partner had been acting a little up and down lately, much like most of the stressed out force. But her behaviour made him particularly wary. After doing a decent job all morning, he found no problem in finishing things off alone.

Then Juliet spoke up again before he could leave. "Listen, Carlton I think we need to have a talk."

The head detective felt a little annoyed, having a sneaking suspicion about what his partner wanted to discuss so earnestly. That was Juliet O'Hara's way. She just couldn't let things go without talking, despite the time that had passed.

"What could we possibly need to talk about?" His eyes narrowed, implying that the woman should not bring up the incident they had managed to deny and work around for this long.

"Just come have lunch with me and we can talk about it." Juliet's eyes filled with a sense of urgency and a touch of guilt. She knew telling Carlton was going to be an unpleasant experience, precisely the reason she had delayed it.

As if on cue, McNab came back to the head detective, providing the perfect escape. Lassiter had never been so glad to see him. He held up a hand before the tall officer could speak.

"I know, room two." Lassiter turned his attention back to Juliet. "I have to go, unless you want to tag along." He began to walk away to where he was meant to be, hoping with a little time Juliet would change her mind about talking.

All his leaving did was annoy her. The woman couldn't help but voice her frustration. "God you can be such an asshole."

Carlton wasn't sure whether he was supposed to hear the comment or not, as Juliet had clearly said it through gritted teeth. But he paused on his path. His neck began to redden and Carlton couldn't help but turn around and confront his partner.

"I beg your pardon." His eyes burned into her with an angry intensity. "How about you repeat that to my face O'Hara?"

Buzz continued to stand there, wondering if he should go or continue watching on curiously. Having not moved for a few seconds during the two detectives' stare down, he decided to stay.

Juliet's mood swing had not calmed down. "Can't you just be a little bit, I don't know, human for once? I swear, sometimes you're like this workaholic robot with a bad buzz cut."

"You just can't let things go can you?" Carlton snapped back. "Maybe you should go to lunch by yourself. And If I were you I'd order a salad!"

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who can't let go if someone is better than you at something. Like when I did better on the detective's exam, or when my boyfriend solves a case that leaves you baffled."

Juliet knew she was being harsh, which was unwise as she was planning to tell Carlton about their child. But the words kept falling out of her mouth. Soon Carlton was red-faced, furious and clearly appalled by his partner. Buzz continued watching on, looking ready to break up a fight.

"On that note, maybe I should take the grand theft auto suspect." Juliet walked briskly towards the interrogation rooms, feeling an arrogance overtake her. It wasn't the first time that work stress had brought on a childish competition between the two partners, but things didn't usually get too heated.

Carlton stormed after her with wide, threatening eyes. "Don't even think about it O'Hara."

He quickened his pace, trying to catch up. Unfortunately Juliet managed to forcefully elbow him back and get herself through the door first. The moment the door shut in his face, Carlton could hear the woman yelling on the other side. It surprised him a little, as O'Hara was considered the "good cop" of their partnership.

Despite how competitive as he usually was, a sense of relief came over him. The suspect was one less thing to deal with now. The head detective figured he deserved a break, if only for five minutes. At the very least he could drink his coffee in peace.

Smirking to himself, Carlton knew that since Juliet was occupied he could sneak one of the chocolate bars he had spotted his partner take from her desk drawer almost daily. Considering her earlier shot at him, he figured it was only fair. It would also go great with his coffee.

He walked back to the bull pen and over to Juliet's desk, opening the top drawer to examine its contents in hopes of finding a Clark Bar. There were the few chocolate bars Juliet kept as a stash, among other things. He examined each of the four remaining bars, trying to decide which one to take. But it was something else that ultimately caught his eye.

It was hard not to notice the sonogram staring at him. At first he didn't believe his eyes, blinking to be sure they weren't decieving him. After a few seconds of puzzlement, his hand stopped rummaging through the candy and instead slowly reached for the picture.

His eyes opened wide with shock as his suspicions were confirmed. "You've got to be kidding me."

For a moment he stood still and just stared at the sonogram. Despite how hard his mind tried to think of another possibility, Carlton knew exactly what he was looking at. His heart was beating in his ears and the one obvious question repeated over in his head.

"No, it can't be mine." Carlton answered his mental question aloud, then remembering that Juliet was dating Shawn he deducted that it had to be the pseudo-psychic's baby. "It's Spencer's kid. No way it's mine. We used a-"

Before he could complete his thought, his mind flashed back to that particular afternoon three months ago. Everything had been so impulsive and reckless. First Juliet had jumped on him, then they had made out in the car, before driving to the nearest hotel. After Carlton had booked the room, they had been back kissing and ravaging each other hungrily.

He tried to remember the moment in the furious passions that he'd put on a condom. There had to have been one moment during the events when protection had been used, or even mentioned. Unfortunately, after going through his memory time and time again, Carlton soon had to admit that particular moment had not taken place.

Then, like the detective he was, he started putting all the evidence together. Since he had been so wrapped up in work and so keen to avoid her, all the obvious signs of O'Hara's pregnancy had evaded him. She had been acting a little strange but that was normal after sleeping with your partner. Before stealing his interrogation, she had wanted to talk to him about something serious.

"It could still be Spencer's." Lassiter said to himself, even though he was starting to doubt it greatly.

He took the sonogram and stormed towards the interrogation rooms. He had to know the truth. Part of him was still getting used to the shock of potentially having a child. Another part was extremely pissed off at Juliet's secrecy.

Everything around him went quiet. It was as though nothing else existed but him and that path to his answers. Without even realising it, Carlton's hands had begun shaking and his determined pace had slowed. He planned everything he would say to his partner, using all his training to remain calm.

But when he spotted Juliet coming out of room two with a smile on her face, Carlton's attempt at playing cool was shattered greatly. He had to forcefully keep his mouth from yelling at the woman.

"He cracked." She said simply before seeing the look he was sporting. "Is everything okay?"

Carlton held up the sonogram, surprising Juliet and draining the colour from her face. His hands were still jittery in anticipation of the answer. In his state, the man couldn't even bring himself to ask the true question. Defences were up and denial was an automatic reaction.

"Is this Spencer's baby? Of course it is, right O'Hara?" He said in a quiet voice, which was clearly the calm before the anger storm. "Tell me this is Spencer's baby."

Juliet's eyes welled up with tears, fearing Lassiter's reaction. She blinked them back and tried to stand her ground. It was not the way she had planned on Carlton finding out. There was an awkward silence as she tried to find the words. The moment she had been hoping never to pass had finally caught up with her.

"Tell me this is Spencer's kid." Carlton snapped, breaking the silence so suddenly it caused the woman to jump.

Juliet bit her lip and after another few seconds of silence she finally found the words. "I can't do that."

Carlton shut his eyes and his lips tightened into a thin line. He held up his hand just in case Juliet tried to speak again. The head detective wasn't sure how to react to this news. Different emotions were stirring inside of him, few of them positive. He needed to get away and clear his head.

Carlton sighed in defeat and let the sonogram fall to the floor between the two of them. "I can't deal with this right now."

* * *

NOTE: Those who were waiting for Lassiter to find out, there you have it! So did you like it? Now what do you think he's going to do? What about Shawn when he finds out who the father is, or did a "vision" already tell him? Well you never have to wait long for this story to update. I try my best to make it interesting :-) So enjoy....I said enjoy!


	8. The Accidental Revelations

**Part 8:** The Accidental Revelations

Carlton was at his favourite stress relieving spot, the police department gun range. He'd been there for the last two hours, firing shot after shot at the paper targets. It had been four days since he'd found out about his future fatherhood. Four days of analysing, a little drinking, burying himself in work and avoiding Juliet like the plague.

He still had no idea what to do about the situation. The first step was clearly talking to Juliet but every time he tried to approach her, Carlton found himself backing out. Always considering himself to be quite articulate, it shocked him that he couldn't bring up the issue appropriately. Probably because talking about it aloud would make it real.

The head detective was aware that his partner probably thought he was being harsh. Over the four days he had seen her glance at him with desperate eyes, which sometimes looked as though she'd been crying, wanting to talk. But the sweet lady had obviously respected Carlton's need to be alone, or feared another angry reaction, and therefore had also stood back.

Examining his latest paper target, it was clear to Carlton that his mind was not on the range. Usually shooting off copious rounds helped him clear his head of nothing but the target. But this time the situation was not as forgettable. He knew that by hiding out in the gun range, he was just procrastinating.

Sighing to himself, Carlton once again tried to think of how to open a conversation with Juliet. It was hard because he did feel quite guilty at hurting her feelings. That shame topped any anger he felt about her keeping it a secret.

Then there was the baby itself. What was going to happen there? Carlton wanted to be honourable and do the right thing. He'd always wanted to have a child someday, though not in this particular way. But did Juliet even want him in the picture? She had kept it a secret and was now dating Shawn.

No. She wasn't going to take his child away. Shawn Spencer was not going to be the father-figure to a Lassiter offspring. Carlton was going to insist being involved. He wanted to be in his child's life.

Knowing that he had to make his intentions clear, Carlton packed up his guns and left the range. Suddenly it occurred to him that Juliet had been off sick that day, a fact he'd brushed off due to trying to avoid her. For a second he wondered if it was a problem with the baby, causing his heart to speed up. That one thought brought on a plethora of paranoia.

He ran to his car and proceeded to drive to Juliet's house like it was a crime scene. Carlton tried to push the worst case scenarios out of his mind as he settled into a parking spot right outside her place. Logically he knew that she was probably fine and that going to her door with panic was probably not the best approach. He took a few deep breaths, knowing this was a situation best handled with a clear head. It was through his need to calm down that he realised how much he truly cared for the unborn child and Juliet along with it.

The first thing he noticed after he stepped out of the car was Shawn's motorcycle. Carlton wasn't sure if having the fake psychic there was a good idea or not. He didn't even know if Shawn knew who the father actually was. Then he sighed upon remembering that, as Juliet's boyfriend, Shawn would be a big part of the child's life whether he liked it or not.

"Here goes nothing." Carlton muttered to himself. He recited motivational chants under his breath as he made his way towards Juliet's door.

It took nearly a minute before the head detective could work up the courage to knock. Finally he raised his hand and forced his fist to rap loudly against the wood. The wait for Juliet seemed to be taking longer than expected.

She answered the door, looking surprised to see Carlton. When she saw he wasn't mad, Juliet smiled and stepped out to greet him with a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested on his shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're here. I knew you'd come."

Carlton's arms slowly slid around the woman. "I'm just trying to do the honourable thing." He attempted to pull back from the hug only to find Juliet wasn't letting go. "And we're still hugging."

Juliet took that as the signal to step back. "Sorry. I've just missed you."

"So…how have you been?" Carlton asked, somewhat nervously.

"Well the morning sickness hit me big today, but it's going to ease up apparently. And I don't have to pee as much right now. I'm craving chicken and chocolate with everything and I'm getting a little bigger and puffy so my pants aren't fitting."

"Okay then. You could have just said a little unwell." Carlton was slightly grossed out at the details.

"Mostly I've just been stressed about you." Juliet confessed, dropping her head. "I wanted to tell you sooner. I just didn't know how."

Carlton was about to answer, when Shawn's voice rang out from inside the house. He cringed, having forgetten for a moment that the psuedo-psychic was there. Soon the other man joined the two at the entrance.

"Lassie-face, what are you doing here?" Shawn looked confused at first before the typical smile came to his face. "Jules, I didn't know you were into that."

"Shawn, why don't you fix some ice-cream for desert?" Juliet asked in order to get her boyfriend away from Lassiter.

"Can I add pineapple to it?"

"Surprise me." Juliet pecked a sweet kiss on his nose, before giving him a love tap on the butt.

Lassiter rolled his eyes as Shawn turned away. To him, the younger man could never take anything seriously, particularly not a baby. "If you must keep dating Spencer, promise me you won't leave our kid alone with him."

Juliet choked back a gasp, hoping Shawn was far enough away and hadn't heard the last comment. Unfortunately when she turned to look behind her, she noticed her boyfriend frozen in his tracks.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Shawn spun around and headed right back to the two detectives. "Whoa!"

"Let me guess, a vision?" Carlton became a little annoyed with the way things were going. It certainly wasn't the serious talk he had intended.

"Lassie is the father?" Shawn quietly asked Juliet before looking back and forth between them. His face was paling and his eyes had a look of horror in them. "_Lassie_ is the father of little Millicent? Carlton Lassiter? That guy right there?"

"Millicent?" Carlton commented in disbelief before his eyes lit up a little. "So it's a girl?"

"No, we don't know that yet." Juliet replied before turning to Shawn and sighing. "And yes, Carlton is the father. I didn't tell you because I wanted to see how he reacted first. Which as you know wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But he's here now."

The head detective couldn't resist getting a shot in. "So it appears our favourite psychic didn't see this one coming."

"Not a good time, Carlton!" Juliet snapped, confused about what to do. Her emotions in regards to this moment were going crazy. "How about we all go inside and talk about this?"

"Sorry Jules, I just can't do that right now." Shawn grabbed his head in disgust, trying to shake the image from his brain. "All I can think about is…ewww. This is why I blocked these visions in the past. Another man touching you is bad enough, but him? Really?"

"Yes, Shawn. Lassiter and I had sex! Once on an impulsive afternoon!" Juliet cried out, frustrated at her boyfriend's reaction. "I'm sorry if you've suddenly got the vision of that happening but you'll just have to get over it."

"Okay, this is disturbing." Shawn stood up straight and stared at the two cops. "You two should talk and I'm going to go."

"No, you're going to stay and talk. You said you wanted to be with me regardless of who the father was so you're just as much a part of this child's life as Carlton." Juliet stated as Shawn picked up his helmet, then a combination of hormonal upset and fear hit her. "Unless you're…"

Shawn knew what Juliet was thinking and suddenly nothing else mattered. "Hey, no nothing like that." He dropped his helmet, rushed over and cupped Juliet's face, pressing his forehead to hers. "Don't be sad, okay? I just need a little time to process this and I know you've wanted to have a talk with…_the father_ for a while. Now that he's here, you should talk."

"But it's our date night. Are you sure?" Juliet knew that she and Carlton needed to talk, but spending time with Shawn was also important.

"Jules, if I stay here I'm going to end up doing what a man usually does when confronted with the person that made his girlfriend cry." Shawn explained, trying his best not to glare at Carlton as he said it. "And since Lassie is looking for any excuse to lock me up, punching him in the face probably isn't the best idea."

Her boyfriend's comments about punching worried Juliet a little. "Just reassure me that you're not mad."

"I made a promise didn't I?" He grabbed her hands in both his own. "It will take more than that to scare me away from you, which you have to admit certainly says something about how I feel."

"Shawn!" Juliet shot him a warning look, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Just be sure to tell him that I'm going to help you every step of the way." Shawn hugged Juliet in a somewhat territorial gesture. He didn't exactly want to leave but he felt too stunned to stay. He whispered softly in his girlfriend's ear. "But if he tries anything, I'm putting laxatives in his coffee."

"Okay." Juliet kissed Shawn lightly on the lips. She still didn't like the thought of her boyfriend and her baby's father in a fight, but was relieved that Shawn wasn't angry with her. "Call me later."

"Definitely." Shawn picked up his helmet up from the floor and forced a smile at Lassiter. "Did you hear that Lassie? We're going to be one big happy family."

As Shawn walked away, Juliet ushered Carlton into her house. Once inside, she shut the door and faced the father of her baby. She smiled at him, but her happiness flickered when she saw her partner's head hung.

"I'm sorry I upset you." He said with a guilty tone, managing to meet her eyes.

Juliet touched his arm in a gesture of compassion. "I know. It was major news and I don't blame you. I was scared too. But as long as you're here now, that's all that matters. This baby is going to have the three greatest parents ever."

Carlton's eyes were directed at Juliet's stomach, where he knew his son or daughter was growing. "So I really don't get a say about Spencer?"

Juliet shook her head. "Come on, you have to be nice."

"I happen to be very nice." Carlton looked up in reply, seemingly offended at her implication. "You think I'm nice, right?"

Juliet eyed towards the kitchen, avoiding the question. "Would you like some ice-cream?"


	9. Package Deal

**Part 9:** Package Deal

"I swear this belly came out of no-where." Juliet wriggled around in the passenger seat while entering hour two of the stakeout.

Carlton noticed that during the last two weeks Juliet had gradually been starting to show more. She managed to wear it well, but it didn't stop the suspicions and rumours around the station. Knowing it was best not to argue with her, he decided not to reply to Juliet's comment and instead tried to concentrate on the warehouse at hand. But the woman was getting a little distracting.

"Can you turn on the air-conditioning or something? It's really hot in here."

"Listen O'Hara." Carlton knew that by saying what he was about to there was a good chance of getting slapped, but he could no longer keep it in. "I know you want to work in the field but you're clearly restless."

"I can do this. I'm not a porcelain doll that breaks at the first sign of trouble." Juliet lashed out, turning to look out the window. "Plus I think we're passed the point of all this last name stuff."

"Geez, calm down."

"I'll calm down when you're the one that's forced to give up field work and do probably the most painful thing known to the human race. But not before you get fat, depressed, uncontrollably frisky and have ridiculous cravings like chocolate covered chicken." Juliet suddenly felt a little upset, biting her lip at realising all she had to sacrifice. "I just get sick of it sometimes, you know? It's like I – Oh Ow! Back Pain!"

A jolt of pain had rushed up Juliet's lower back. She also couldn't hold back the urge to pee for much longer. As stubborn as she could be, Juliet was starting to think she wasn't up for field work. Even something simple as watching a building had become too much.

Carlton, filled up with concern, reached over and turned Juliet back to face him. He gradually managed to open his arms up, signalling for a hug.

"What's going on? You never initiate hugs." Juliet eyed him suspiciously, yet still feeling happy by the gesture.

"Come on, _Juliet_." He inched slightly closer to her.

The woman literally jumped at the chance and hugged her partner close. She could feel him stroking her hair, trailing his hand down and rubbing her back. Juliet liked Lassiter's surprising gentleness but couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

"Okay, that's it. Ever since we've started talking again you've started being all nice. I want to know why."

"You're carrying my child and you've been understandably moody. Forgive me for thinking it's best to get on your good side." Carlton replied, shifting his eyes a little.

Juliet had known her partner long enough to tell that he was hiding something. Suddenly it occurred to her. "Wait a minute. This is about what I said about you being nice, isn't it? That's when this whole thing started."

"You want me to be more sensitive and less gruff, as you put it, so I'm holding up my end of the deal and you'll hold up yours."

"Deal? This is a baby we're talking about." Juliet was stunned by Carlton's reply. "You're a part of its life no matter what. There's not really a deal in place."

"But you have Spencer doing everything. You told him first. He took you to your first ultrasound. He was by your side at the first Lamaze class." Carlton looked at the warehouse, hoping for some activity to avoid the sensitive topic of conversation.

"Firstly, I didn't tell him, he figured it out. Secondly, he drove me to my first ultrasound but I wouldn't let him in." Juliet petted her partner's arm reassuringly. "Are you jealous or something?"

He scoffed at her accusation. "Jealous of Spencer? That's ludicrous!"

"You are, Carlton. Even though there is no need for you to be."

"I just don't want you and Spencer taking my kid away!" Carlton let out his true feelings a little harsher than intended. After everything that had fallen with his divorce, he didn't want to lose a child as well.

"That will never happen. Do you really think…?" Juliet kept looking at the man's face, hoping he'd turn back. When he didn't, she continued. "I'm not going to leave you like Victoria did, okay?"

"You called me an asshole, remember?" The head detective wasn't convinced just yet but was letting his guard down a little. "And if I recall correctly, you said I was an unfeeling robot?"

"My moods are so out of control I've yelled at McNab and Gus for no reason. Then I freaked out the guy at Subway when I cried over a sandwich." Juliet shook Carlton's arm lightly, hoping her stories would open him up. "Look at me."

"I don't even know how to be a dad. I mean, my dad…let's just say he wasn't the greatest example."

The woman's face turned to one of concern. She gave Carlton's bicep a gentle squeeze. "I know that you keep your guard up, probably because you've had to. But I also know that you have this determined nature and you can be really sweet when you want to be."

"You think so?" The head detective seemed puzzled by her words, despite how flattered he was.

"Shawn may be my boyfriend, but Carlton…you're basically my best friend. More than that, you're my partner. I just need you guys to get along, even though I know Shawn can drive you crazy sometimes."

Carlton finally turned to his partner, feeling an involuntary grin coming on. "I'm really your best friend?"

Juliet pushed him playfully, hoping for the older man to lighten up a little more. "Look, I only agreed to let Shawn come to Lamaze class because you were angry at me. I understand you had every right to be. Shawn wants to prove himself. I want you around too but we can't risk the chief finding out."

The head detective knew he didn't have much choice in the matter. But the way he saw it, this option was better than being taken out of the equation completely. "Fine. But when he can't be there, you call me immediately."

The blonde woman's face now sported a wide smile and excited eyes. "Well Shawn is busy with some infidelity case later so you can come shopping with me for maternity clothes. Lord knows I need them now."

Carlton let out a slight groan, slightly regretting his determination to help out. "Can't I just agree to tolerate Spencer?"

* * *

Shawn was at the Psych office, flipping through Juliet's pregnancy book while waiting for his next appointment. He was reading the chapter on her particular week, before getting distracted by other thoughts.

Finally he couldn't help but voice what he was thinking. "Dude, do you think Jules and Lassiter will ever do it again?"

Gus looked up from his laptop, shooting Shawn a death stare. "I'm not having this conversation with you again. But thank you for getting that image right back in my head."

"Don't be a worm infested apple. I'm totally serious here." Shawn tossed the book on his desk and stood up. "They're having this baby together and I know Lassie's not happy about me being around all the time."

"I think by now he's learned to tolerate you Shawn. This whole experience may actually make you friends." Gus replied, shutting his laptop and giving all attention to his friend.

"Wake up Gus. I can't be friends with a guy who's been with my girlfriend. It's too weird and I still kind of want to hit him." Shawn whined before rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat. "Sometimes it's like I see these little Lassiter's climbing all over her and planting little blue flags."

"Now you're just being ridiculous." Gus rolled his eyes. He regrettably knew there was no way out of the conversation until Shawn had some kind of clarity. "You're going to have to deal with it if you want to keep dating Juliet. They're kind of a package deal now."

"But what if she doesn't want to date me anymore?" Shawn let his guard down, shutting the refrigerator door and sighing. His tone was one of earnestness that seemed too unnatural for him. "What if she turns around one day and decides she wants to be with Lassiter?"

Gus shook his head at his best friend's insanity. "Who's the one taking her to Lamaze classes?"

"That would be me." Shawn answered, standing up a little straighter.

"Who is the one she is currently dating?"

"Me. But then her and Lassiter with all that alone time at this stage in her pregnancy. Even the book says to be prepared for heightened sexuality." Shawn grabbed his head as couldn't stop the images running through his mind, even though he could see he was being a little paranoid. "You've seen those movie scenes where they get to talking and then flirting. The next thing you know they're covered in maple syrup and rolling around in the hay."

Gus slammed a hand on his desk. "Yet another image I really didn't need."

Shawn's eyes opened wide with a realisation. "Dude, they could be doing it right now."

"Juliet is not cheating on you Shawn. Just think about it, when did she hook up with Lassiter?" Gus raised an eyebrow at Shawn, hoping he'd get the hint. "Things were awkward, you guys weren't talking, she was getting over one heck of a traumatic experience and you'd just been dumped by Abigail. Both of you did some crazy stuff in that period of time."

"What do you mean crazy things? I didn't go out and do it with Lassiter."

Gus sighed as he remembered Shawn's particularly nutty period. "No but you did get drunk, steal my shoes and end up sleeping over at your dad's begging to go fishing."

"I did you a favour. Those shoes were really ugly. They were purple." Shawn explained as he too went back through the drunken night which he regrettably remembered perfectly.

"You're wearing purple right now!" Gus pointed to the purple shirt Shawn was wearing, feeling a sense of annoyance. "I liked those shoes."

Desperate for a subject change, Shawn steered back to the issue at hand. "It's just that Lassiter's the dad. Where do I really fit in this happy family? How can I compete with the suits and a gun, he's practically James Bond. And that dude always gets the ladies."

Gus couldn't believe that Shawn, always one to go with the flow, was still insisting on his unfounded fears. "Well your parents had you and they didn't work out. You should know that just because two people had a kid doesn't mean they're going to automatically be together."

"Fine but-"

"No buts, Shawn. You're acting crazy – more than usual. If you ask me, you have the sweet deal. You get the girl and you get to play fun parent while Lassiter takes care of all the serious dad stuff." Gus tossed some junk mail into the garbage. "And by the way, Bond is English. Lassiter is Irish."

"Fine. Case and point. Mr Smarty McSmartpants wins the game." Shawn threw his hands up in defeat before quickly grabbing a piece of notebook paper. "But I can totally beat you at trash can basketball."

* * *

**NOTE:** Just can't have Jules without Carlton, or without Shawn. And you also can't have Shawn without Gus. Speaking of Gus, he so needs more love in this fic...then again, he's important later. For now you can guess what happens next, YAY! Thanks for reading and reviewing this fic.


	10. Can You Handle This?

**Part 10:** Can You Handle This?

Juliet was happy to be heading off to another birthing class. Not only was it reassuring to see other people going through the exact changes she was but it offered a perfect excuse to leave the SBPD headquarters for awhile.

Due to her stomach popping out even more she had been confined to desk and office duties, being forced to do paper work and look over case files. Lassiter had been assigned a new partner who could work in the field, a young man who'd transferred from Las Vegas hoping for a less eccentric life and a place by the water. Everyone at the station now knew that Juliet was in fact pregnant. What they didn't know was who the baby's father was.

Everyone just assumed it was Shawn's baby and congratulated him for it. Juliet and Lassiter played along with their assumptions. They agreed it was for the best, considering what could happen if the chief knew the real story. Sometimes Juliet wanted to tell the truth and, even though he put up a front, she could tell that her former partner was feeling left out of the process.

Finding her spot on the floor of the class room, Juliet made herself comfortable. She watched as Shawn waved to all the other couples, greeting them with what she knew was forced enthusiasm. But she appreciated his efforts and company.

"Have I told you I'm really glad that you're here?" Juliet asked her boyfriend, leaning back against him.

Shawn hugged her from behind. "Only a few dozen times but it's always nice to hear." He planted a series of kisses on her neck. "Besides, who wouldn't want to be near you as much as possible?"

Juliet giggled as Shawn kept kissing her. "Okay, sweetie. We have to pay attention."

"Between books, the internet, previous classes and Gus's giant head we know all this stuff already. How about we skip class and go make out on the beach?" Shawn whispered jokingly, stroking Juliet's pregnant belly. "Or get kicked out of Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'm really not fussy."

Juliet turned and touched his cheek, silently implying her answer. While it was obvious Shawn was just being playful, it was moments like it that quickly turned Juliet's appreciation into doubts. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if the free-spirited man was really in it for the long haul, particularly considering all that came with it.

She turned back and began to pay attention to Sue, the lady leading the class. This made it easier to forget any fears regarding Shawn's commitment.

"Okay future parents. Hopefully after last week you've mastered all your breathing excersises. Today we're getting into the more intense stuff regarding childbirth. I know it's a little uncomfortable but it's necessary." Sue explained to all the couples in the room. "Now after our discussion and another fun game of trivia we're going to watch a video…"

Juliet and some other mothers tensed at the talk of that day's topic. A quick glance at the pseudo-psychic told Juliet the women weren't the only ones getting a little nervous.

"It's not too late to call Lassiter to this class. Shouldn't he be here for the video?" Shawn was concentrating all his energy on keeping his voice at normal range. Unfortunately it still came out slightly high and quivery.

Juliet was not much better in reassuring her boyfriend, clearing lying through her teeth. Hearing Shawn's comment had just made things even more awkward. "It's the miracle of life and it's a beautiful thing. Come on, how bad can it be?"

"Liar. You're terrified."

"Okay, maybe a little." Juliet held Shawn's hand tightly. "But we can get through this. Just stick it out with me."

"I always will my dear." Shawn replied, kissing Juliet on the forehead and turning back to the talk on natural versus epidural childbirth.

Juliet watched all the other couples. In her somewhat paranoid state, they all seemed much more knowledgeable than her. She kept squeezing Shawn's hand desperately, if only to make sure he was still there. It calmed her a little when he squeezed back in reassurance but she couldn't ignore the fact that he clearly wasn't keen on this class.

Every now and then Juliet would tune out of the conversations. She couldn't even get involved in the weekly game of trivia that was always played to lighten the mood. Questions flooded her mind about doing a natural birth or taking the drugs. The chief had done a natural birth and come out fine but everything Juliet knew indicated the pain was excruciating.

"Get into it, Jules." Shawn snapped Juliet from her thoughts and egged her on in the trivia game that everyone was playing. "You know the answers to these. I know you do."

Juliet gave in and tried her best in the remaining minutes of childbirth trivia. While it was an effective and interesting way to remember all the information, the activity did nothing to distract her mind from all the questions. Fear continued to eat at her and she wanted to go home and cry.

Then came the video, which after the discussion she didn't want to view. She rummaged through her bag, feeling around for the stress chocolate bar as the lights were switched off. Managing to find it, Juliet ripped off the wrapper and took a big chunk out of it.

Shawn could spot his girlfriend's panic from a mile away. He rubbed her shoulders, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, anything to reassure her. Though once the video started, Shawn could no longer comfort Juliet honestly.

The birthing video showed exactly what it promised. Yet the graphic images were so unexpected, it was frightening. The eyes in the room were fixated on it, even though they had the overwhelming urge to run from the room or at least turn away.

The worst Juliet had seen of such an act had been brief two minute snippets in movies, usually of a woman's face screaming and nothing more. Now every detail, from crowning to the afterbirth and all the gory bits in between, was being broadcasted right in front of them. All while the woman in the background cried her various indecipherable noises.

"Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off." Juliet could hear the man beside her and Shawn muttering. Her thoughts were much the same.

When the video was finally turned off and the lights came back on, nobody spoke. The room had a severe case of awkwardness in it. Everyone seemed to want to talk about what they saw, yet never speak of it again. The only exception was the one couple second from the left, who seemed excited by everything baby related.

"Okay. That was interesting." Juliet said, while trying to hide the fact she was breathing heavily. "I think I'm going to take the drugs. No wait, scratch that. I think I'm going to go into a coma so I can just wake up when it's done and never have to experience that, ever."

"I'm getting a vision that Lassie is going to come to the next class with you and that we don't speak of this ever again."

Juliet turned to him with wide eyes. Even though it was in Shawn's nature to joke around, it was the worst thing he could have said at that moment. Another rush of paranoia came forth in her mind. Was he having second thoughts? Could he really stick around after the birth? Could she handle doing this alone if he did decide to leave?

"Come on! It will be a piece of cake Jules. You're a strong and beautiful woman." Shawn put his fingers to his temple, pretending to have a vision. "In fact I can see that you have a healthy baby and you're happy. We can handle this."

Juliet allowed Shawn to hug her. She pulled him as close as her pregnant belly would allow. His last sentence kept repeating in her head but it was hardly reassuring. Not only did her doubts about Shawn linger, but now she was starting to wonder about herself. The only thing she was sure of at that moment was a definite epidural.

* * *

After seeing Juliet back to her place, Shawn was left alone with his thoughts. It appeared that trying to forget the birthing video with a nice romantic walk by the beach together had not gone as planned.

He hated himself for having the doubts he swore to Juliet would never come. Shawn knew that she relied on him to help her go with the flow. He'd always been able to handle things thrown at him with quick thinking and good acting. But with all the complications involving Lassiter and the class just making everything too real, the eccentric man didn't know if he could help like he promised. To be with Juliet meant being there for the baby as well, something he couldn't help but wonder if he was truly ready for. It scared him to think that his uncertainties could ultimately cost him the woman of his dreams.

Shawn had nowhere to turn with his troubles. When that happened he ended up at his dad's place. Sure enough, the pseudo-psychic was on the doorstep within minutes. He bashed on the door and barged in before Henry could even issue a greeting.

"I can't handle this. I said I could but I totally can't." Shawn told Henry in an almost urgent tone.

"I didn't know you were coming for dinner, Shawn." The father just watched his son with a little annoyance and confusion.

"I'm not. I mean, I wasn't. Well, what are we having? No meat products. Actually, no food because I can't eat anything." Shawn was pacing back and forth across the living room, trying to gather his thoughts.

"Then what do you want?" Henry replied a little impatiently. He loved his son but sometimes the lack of focus really irked him.

Shawn stood still and voiced the only honest answer that could come to mind. "I want to call up my mother and tell her that I'm very sorry. And that I love her."

Henry tried to figure out what Shawn was talking about, then he remembered Juliet's current predicament. "This is about Juliet isn't it?"

"You mean that she's perfect and beautiful and I care about her very, very much." Shawn tried to shake his day off with a wide smile, but it wasn't fooling his dad.

"Shawn, you made a promise to that girl and you know how she feels about you. Really think about this before you break her heart again. I mean it, son." Henry scolded Shawn in his typically firm voice before going to get two beers.

"I'm not going to break up with her, dad. I want to be with her, forever if she'll let me. It's just the baby and that…well, it's complicated."

Coming back into the room, Henry stopped sipping his beer as a thought occured to him. "Wait, who goes to the classes with her, you or Lassiter?" He handed the other beer to Shawn, already knowing the answer to his question as the evidence had been put together in his mind.

"I wish it was Lassiter but because of what you go on about, with the responsibilities and maturity, I've been going with her." Shawn gulped the beer, hoping to get even the slightest buzz going as quickly as possible.

Henry could help but chuckle knowingly. "They showed you the video, didn't they?"

Shawn downed another quarter of his beer before his dad stopped laughing. "Dad, it's so not funny."

"You're damn right it's not funny, Shawn. This is serious stuff we're talking about." The older Spencer's cheer stopped abruptly and the overbearing father emerged. "I know you've had feelings for Juliet for a long time. Personally I think the woman is good for you. But are you really ready to take on the responsibility of a child that isn't yours?"

"I want to be part of Juliet's life and therefore part of this baby's. It's not like I'm becoming the real father - Lassie is. So he'll be helping out all the time." Shawn finished off his beer and rushed to get another one.

"That doesn't make you any less responsible, Shawn." Henry called out before following his son into the kitchen. "I don't think you're ready for this."

Shawn pulled out two beers from the fridge and slammed them on the table. "Dad, I made a promise to take care of her. I don't care if she's pregnant. I went into this knowing that she was carrying another dude's baby. Granted that said dude turned out to be Lassie-face." He opened his beer quickly and took a sip to calm that last thought. "The video just freaked me out, that's all. It made it all real."

Something about hearing the fears in his mind voiced aloud made it easier for Shawn to fight against them. Plus the overwhelming desire he had to prove his father wrong made him even more determined to stick with his girlfriend. One more doubtful comment from Henry and Shawn would gladly deliver the baby himself.

"So you come in here spouting that you can't handle this and now you're trying to convince me that you can. There is no winning with you, Shawn." Henry sat down at the table, stealing one of Shawn's beers. "There's more than your personal life at stake here, so don't mess this up."

"Always good to see you too, Dad." Shawn clinked his beer bottle with the one in his father's hand before walking out the door.

Arguing may have been an unorthodox way of solving problems, but it was the Spencer's way. Like always, Shawn left with a sense of reassurance that only a father could provide.

"I can handle this – for Jules."


	11. There For You

**Part 11:** There for You

Shawn and Juliet sat waiting in the doctor's office. The time had finally come for another important ultrasound. The couple agreed that they were going to find out the sex of the baby, though Shawn claimed he already knew. To tease his girlfriend, he refused to tell her of his apparent prediction.

"This way we get to find out together." Shawn explained to Juliet, stroking her baby bump affectionately.

The pregnant woman let out a somewhat solemn sigh. "But we're not finding out together if you already know."

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you." The pseudo-psychic told her firmly, but smiled as he did so. "Nor am I going to give away the other surprise."

As he voiced his last comment, Shawn patted his jeans pocket. Inside was a small box, containing a special piece of jewellery that he planned to give to Juliet.

She couldn't help but notice this action immediately. Her eyes widened at the concealed object in Shawn's jeans. "What's that bulge in your pocket?"

"Jules, please. We're in a doctor's office. That's not appropriate." He slid his arms around her, grinning flirtatiously. "At least not until later."

Juliet smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "You clearly wanted me to see it."

Shawn's eyes turned earnest as he spoke to Juliet. "After the ultrasound. But I'll say one thing…it symbolises that I am in it for the long haul, sweetie."

Suddenly a thought occurred to Juliet as to what the surprise might be. Her eyes stared at Shawn's pocket as if trying to see right through to the gift. Breath caught in her throat at the possibility. Despite how much she cared for him, Juliet found herself hoping her suspicions were false. Now that the seriousness of her situation was starting to hit, she had to be one hundred percent sure. In her eyes, Shawn was attentive but not quite there yet.

As though he sensed her scepticism, Shawn continued. "I know the birthing video was - well it was disturbing and I've been acting a little weird about it. I can sense you've had your doubts about me. Admittedly I've even had a few doubts about whether I could handle it. But you're more than worth it and I'm sticking with you. I'm right by your side."

Juliet's mouth opened, but no words came out for a few seconds. "Look, I have to be honest. I'm glad you want to stick with me but I'm not ready for a commitment of this-"

Shawn put a finger to her lips and halted the woman immediately. "Whoa whoa, Jules. No it's nothing like that." He pulled out the jewellery box and handed it to her. "Well since you've freaked out on me, I'll have to think of another surprise to make up for this one."

"You totally baited me and you know it. Don't get all cute and innocent."

The pregnant woman opened the gift in front of her. Inside she found not a ring but a silver bracelet with three beautiful charms attached. One was a pineapple, which made Juliet giggle as it was so typically Shawn. Beside it was a cute kitten charm which made her gush. The third one was a heart, clearly to symbolise the affection between the couple. Just looking at the present made her smile widen and although she did feel a little guilty about ruining the supposed surprise, it reassured her that Shawn was serious about being with her.

"That look on your face is even better than the one in my vision when I bought this." The pseudo-psychic tilted her face to his, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "Look at it whenever you doubt me."

"You know I'll never doubt you." Juliet pulled her boyfriend into a deeper kiss which lasted until Lillian called them in to the examination room.

Juliet followed her doctor into the room enthusiastically. She stepped up and sat herself on the bed, making small talk and getting ready for the procedure. Shawn stood by the door just watching with his phone in hand. Juliet was curious as to why he wasn't coming in, considering he'd been so genuinely keen to accompany her this time.

"Come over here." She gestured with her hand, reaching out to him. "Dr Salerno, this is my boyfriend, Shawn Spencer."

Shawn shook his head. "Sorry Jules, and doc, I have to call about the other surprise. I'll be back in a minute."

Juliet didn't know whether to be annoyed or flattered by his exit. Either way it left her a little puzzled. But Shawn didn't do things like other people and Juliet liked it that way. Upon looking at her purse, where she had put the sweet bracelet, she figured that a few minutes of patience wouldn't go astray. Whatever Shawn had planned had to be something big.

"Let's just get started without him. He'll be back soon. He's really sweet, trying to prove himself." Juliet urged Dr Salerno to proceed, feeling a little squirmy as the gel was squeezed onto her stomach.

As the scan got underway, she relaxed. This time was a little easier for Juliet, as she knew what to expect and technically wasn't alone. Still, the emotions came forth once the baby's outline appeared on screen. It had evolved from the small blob shape into a clear baby. Her mouth opened in positive awe as Dr Salerno pointed out quite a few new features.

"Look at how much the baby's grown. Wow."

After a few minutes looking at the healthy foetus which had certainly changed since Juliet had last checked in on it, Shawn still wasn't back. The pregnant woman kept staring at her baby, smiling cheerfully at its development. Nothing could have made her happier.

Still, it began to bug her that once again neither Shawn nor Lassiter was there to experience it with her. She began to feel a little hurt that her boyfriend was still absent.

"So are we going to find out the sex?"

Juliet bit her lip, worried about what was going on. "Can we just wait for Shawn to come back? He said he'd only be a minute. I know he wants to see this too, please."

"Of course. We'll keep admiring your healthy baby." Lillian smiled at Juliet, trying to keep the patient calm. "While we're waiting, let's see if the heart's as strong as last time."

Just as the beating sound echoed throughout the room, the door opened slowly. Both doctor and Juliet turned to the source of the interruption. Shawn stood there with a grin on his face. An arm was wrapped around his new surprise: Carlton Lassiter.

"Sorry Jules, but it took Lassie-face long enough to get here." He walked over to his girlfriend, kissing her forehead and looking at the screen for a few seconds to take in the baby. "See he has to check this out! Look, I know you want him here and he looks so sad getting all left out of things, so I called him."

Carlton was still paralysed at the entrance to the room, unable to believe where he was. "Is that my baby's heart beat?"

"Yeah it is Lassie." Shawn replied before whispering to his girlfriend again. "I don't want to steal the guy's thunder. I have to accept that he's in your life. Plus it's only fair since I got to watch the miracle of life up close and personal."

Juliet, already emotional from a combination of seeing her baby and hormones, let a few happy tears roll down her cheeks. As much as she appreciated Shawn, it didn't absolve the fact that she wanted the baby's father around. While she saw him at work, circumstances had come so that they couldn't really be together. One didn't have to be psychic to sense that she missed Carlton sometimes.

"Thank you so much Shawn. But you can stay if you want. Carlton will understand I'm sure."

"Nah, this is you and Lassie's moment and I will gracefully step aside. There will be plenty more stuff for me to do, like making sure you have chocolate sauce to pour over your chicken." Shawn bent down and kissed a tear off her cheek. "I care about you so much. I'll be right outside when you finish."

"I know." Juliet nodded in understanding, letting her hand trail off from Shawn's and her gaze drift to the baby's father.

Shawn patted Carlton on the back as he went to exit. "Keep your hands off my lady, Lassie. I'm trusting you."

Carlton rolled his eyes at the typical Shawn behaviour before joining Juliet by the bed. Their eyes met and together they smiled excitedly. Turning their attention to the screen, together they watched the baby.

"Is that my baby?" Carlton's eyes fixated on the picture before him, entranced by the image. "I never thought I'd experience this after everything that's happened. But it's amazing."

"Okay, I think we're ready to find out the sex." Juliet told Dr Salerno.

"Here it goes, boy or girl." The head detective didn't have a preference for the sex of his child. He was just eager to know.

Carlton's hand rested on his former partner's shoulder before sliding into her hair. He continued staring at the screen and took in all the small features that made up his baby. After being left out for the last few months, looking at the screen made all the joy real for him. His eyes watered slightly as the foetus made small movements.

He was really going to be a father, after fearing he might never be. Just being in this moment caused Carlton to forgive all the things Shawn had done to annoy him in the past.

"It looks like you have yourselves a baby girl."

"A girl!" Juliet squealed excitedly, turning to Carlton. For the first time since the birthing video, all doubts were gone. She knew that she could do this, that they all could handle it.

The head detective was still in a state of disbelief. It was all so much to take in. His baby girl was growing healthily inside Juliet and had three people who cared about her already.

"Oh I'm going to spoil you." Carlton's usual walls fell down completely. "She's going to be gorgeous, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Juliet loved seeing the older man come out of his shell. She would never be able to thank Shawn enough for bringing him.

Carlton moved his hand from the back of Juliet's head and trailed it down her arm. Once he found her hand, he grasped it in his own and gave it a nice warm squeeze. Surely Spencer would understand the appropriate affection at this point.

The expectant mother squeezed his hand back in appreciation. "Thank you so much, Carlton. For everything."

Dr Salerno watched the two of them, admiring how the two just seemed to have a natural rapport despite not being together. "You'll make great parents." She remarked with a smile. "Now I'll just take a nice picture for you."

"Do you think we could get two of those?" The head detective asked, his eyes not moving from the screen. "Or maybe five."

Juliet turned to Carlton, unable to help but giggle at the look of amazement on his face. In all the years she'd known him, he'd never been this happy about anything. Not even his longest streak of cases solved compared to this.

"Look at you. You're practically gushing."

Carlton's attention turned to Juliet, feeling a little embarrassed. "Well, what do you expect? That's our baby." He tried to put up a bit of a front but couldn't succeed. His joy could not be crushed by anything, even his over-analytical brain.

"Yes it is." The blonde detective let out a laugh of excitement. "It's our girl."

Juliet and Carlton kept looking at each other. They positively beamed in the comfortable silence between them. Opening her arms, the woman motioned for a hug. Almost as though he expected this, the man gave a slight eye roll but nevertheless leaned in to accept her affection.

"Do you want me to bring Spencer back into the room now?" Carlton was getting a little too uncomfortable with the closeness and vulnerability, despite the new-found love for his future daughter.

"No, I want you to stay." Juliet allowed their hug to drift apart but still kept a hold of his hand in case he tried to leave. Sweetly she kissed his cheek, once again to thank him for this moment.

"Fine." The head detective just couldn't refuse her. "Just five more minutes."

Juliet let out another excited squeak. She felt Carlton's hand once again squeezing hers and all felt right with her world. She had two great men who were clearly going to stick with her through this, no matter what the circumstance.


	12. Kicking it on July Forth

**Part 12: Kicking it on July Forth**

Carlton was walking around "Baby Buddies", the largest baby supply store in Santa Barbara. Baby clothes and toys, along with the practical stuff like diaper genies and cribs were as far as the eye could see. The head detective skimmed all the items, determining within a few minutes that he had very little clue but continued to casually look around the store.

"Can I help you?"

Carlton couldn't help but cringe at the voice of the sales lady. She was perfectly nice but he didn't want her anywhere near his vicinity. He had no idea what he was actually looking for and admitting that to a helpful, but no doubt judgemental, sales lady was something he didn't intend to do. These people were the precise reason he'd given up shopping for Victoria when they were married.

Just when he contemplated giving Juliet a fistful of cash, another voice rang out across the store.

"Carlton? Oh my god, he was right, you're actually here."

Turning to the second interruption, he saw Juliet bouncing over to him happily. She wrapped him in a hug the moment she was in reach. The sales lady took this as a hint to step away, making Carlton return Juliet's hug gratefully. It was only by hugging her back that Carlton realised how much he missed having her around.

"This is so great. What have you been looking at?"

Carlton shrugged in response. "This and that."

"You're in a little over your head aren't you?" Juliet squeezed his arm knowingly. "That's okay, we'll just ease you into this. How about we look at toys and clothes first, then move up to the other stuff?"

"Okay then." Normally he hated to admit when he was clueless, but Carlton was glad that Juliet knew him well enough to see through that façade.

They headed off to the section in the far right corner of the store. On the way Juliet made an attempt at small talk.

"So, how's the new partner working out? Detective Kevin Sterling was it?"

Carlton sighed a little. His new partner was good on paper but he was no O'Hara. "He knows his place." It was all he could say without admitting he wanted her with him.

Luckily they'd reached the toys before Juliet could ask more about it. All sorts of baby toys were there to look at, almost too many choices. The two detectives stared at the options clearly intended for girls.

"Oh this one is so cute." Juliet picked up a purple kitten toy. "What do you think?"

"I have no idea. But if you like it…" Carlton picked up some toys, handling them curiously. Finally he found one that he liked. "How about this one?"

"Aww it's dressed like a cop." Juliet admired the blue bear that her baby's father held. "But I think that's meant for boys."

"This from the woman who mutters about equal opportunity." Carlton smirked at her when her mouth became agape. "That's right. Sometimes I actually listen when you talk about things."

Juliet took the policeman bear from Carlton and placed it in her basket. "Well, I'm not going to be teaching our daughter discrimination." She turned back to gaze at the other toys, her eyes lighting up within seconds. "Oh my gosh, we have to get this."

Carlton rolled his eyes slightly at Juliet's over the top behaviour but he couldn't deny the quiet joy that shopping for his daughter brought him. He looked at the toy that Juliet was holding up towards him. It was a stuffed yellow horse with green hair and what appeared to be a pineapple imprint on both sides of its body.

"It's Pineapple Pony!" Juliet squealed, handing him the toy. "It's perfect because it represents both the important men in her life. You always wanted a pony when you were younger and Shawn, well the man loves his – Whoa!" Juliet grabbed her stomach almost urgently.

The head detective dropped the toy and tended to the pregnant woman. His eyes widened with concern. "Is it the baby?"

"Yeah it is." Juliet looked up and answered his worry with a smile. "I can feel her kicking."

Carlton placed a gentle hand on Juliet's shoulder, looking down at the baby bump. He hesitantly reached towards it. But unsure if the woman wanted to be touched, he pulled back.

Juliet noticed this and grabbed Carlton's hand, placing it on her belly. "Come and feel it you big silly." She began laughing at his reluctance. "It's your daughter, you're allowed to feel."

Once again, the baby gave a few kicks. The two felt it against their hands, both letting out simultaneous sounds of awe. Juliet laughed at the amazing feeling, while Carlton stood with a glazed over look.

"Well, hello there baby." The man whispered towards the bump, feeling movement once again.

Juliet smiled at how much Carlton was softening up. She gave his hand, which still rested comfortably on her stomach, a squeeze. Unable to control her happiness, she let out an excited laugh. There was another person she had to share this with.

"I have to go show this to Shawn." Juliet bounced a little, looking at Carlton with somewhat pleading eyes. "Do you mind?"

The truth was that he did mind. Despite Carlton's uncertainties about Spencer, Juliet appeared to be falling in love with him. He didn't want to break up such a personal moment but the head detective knew he had to be nice. He slipped his hand off her baby bump and nodded.

"I'll see you at the fireworks tonight. Promise?" Juliet gave Carlton a quick hug before going on her way.

Carlton hadn't been planning on going to the Forth of July fireworks. But if Spencer was going to be a part of his baby's life, he had to be the judge of character. It was time for a man-to-man talk.

* * *

"Happy forth of July everybody!" Shawn was merrily walking around the grass, shooting a bubble gun into the air and having a typical childishly fun time.

He, Juliet and Gus had their spot on the field, awaiting the anticipated fireworks display. Shawn had brought along two inflatable chairs for him and his best friend, while Juliet insisted on her own picnic blanket.

"Calm down Shawn, people are staring. You're more rowdy than most of the kids here." Gus patted the inflatable chair beside him.

"It's the celebration of our independence Gus. Show your patriotism." Shawn squatted down to meet Juliet's pregnant belly. "You love it, don't you baby girl? Speaking of which, where is the baby's daddy."

Juliet winced a little due to some back pain. Shawn's face twisted into concern as he held her. He handed his bubble gun to Gus, who was trying to stop himself from playing with the very toy he had criticised. The pseudo-psychic kept rubbing his girlfriend's back, while petting her stomach affectionately.

"Are you going to be okay? Are you sure you don't want the inflatable chair?"

"I'm fine, just another back pain episode. Besides, if I sit in that chair I'll pop the damn thing." Juliet took a deep breath, snuggling into Shawn's arms. "Thanks though."

"Then I'm going to sit here with you. I'm sure Gus doesn't mind." Shawn turned to his best friend, finding the pharmaceutical sales rep shooting the bubble gun into the air. "See I told you it was fun. I'm just going to sit on the ground with Jules. When Lassie gets here he can take the inflatable chair."

Gus scoffed at Shawn's suggestion, a little offended that Shawn seemed to be ditching him. "I will give you fifty bucks if you can get Lassiter to sit in a blow up chair."

"Gus, not even his surly self can resist the bribe of the glow headband." Shawn replied, turning his attention to the three circular glow headbands on his arm. "They glow and they make an excellent ring toss game. Observe."

He proceeded in taking one and trying to throw it on Gus's head, much to the pharmaceutical rep's annoyance. Juliet couldn't help but giggle at them both. Shawn concentrated and tried once again to get the glowing circle atop of his best friend's head.

Gus shot a few bubbles in the couple's direction. "Just for that, you're not getting the bubble gun back."

"Fine." Shawn placed the third glow band on Juliet's head, giving her a passionate kiss in the process. "I'll get us some more glow rings and I'll get you some chicken sticks, okay milady." He gave her three more kisses in quick succession, letting out a satisfied hum, before rushing away.

It took ten minutes of haggling but the pseudo-psychic had managed to get seven more glow headbands at a reasonable price. With two bands on his head and the rest hanging off both his arms, he stood in the line to get Juliet her chicken fingers. Just as he was second from the vendor, a hand pulled him out of the queue.

Shawn turned around to come face to face with Lassiter. "Lassie-face, you made it. But I have to say, pulling me out of line while getting chicken sticks for a hormonal pregnant lady was not a wise move."

Carlton shook his head, unable to hide his slight disgust. "I took care of Juliet's food the moment I got here, when you were off buying glow sticks. I also see that you were expecting her to sit on an inflatable chair with my child?"

"That chair was for me. Actually, now it's for you." Shawn took one of the thin glow rings off his arm, placing it on Carlton's head. "See if you can get my bubble gun back from Gus."

Grabbing the back of the younger man's neck and throwing the glow band to the ground, Carlton made sure Shawn knew he wasn't playing. "See that's the thing Spencer. Everything is just a big game to you. Nothing matters as long as you're happy and free."

"Dude, what the hell?" Shawn managed to pull away from the forceful grip, gasping in pain. "I let you in on the ultrasound. I'm giving you more to do with the baby. Who do you think drove Juliet to the baby store? I sensed you'd be there, so you could shop for baby stuff together."

"Cut the crap! This isn't just some toy, or some game you can charm your way out of Spencer. This is my kid." Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, as though saying the words made everything more real. "It's my daughter and you're going to be taking care of her. The worst part is that I don't even get a say in it."

Shawn stood his ground, his mood effectively downed. "You really think I'm not doing my part? Tell me right now, Lassie-face. Because I'm here to tell you I'm in this for the long haul."

"You may have charmed Juliet with a couple of kisses and a bracelet, but so far you've yet to convince me that you have a responsible bone in your body." Carlton looked towards the area where he could just make out Juliet and Gus, laughing away.

"Well clearly I'm not going to be charming you with kisses and a bracelet." Shawn replied, bending down to pick up the fallen glow head band before turning serious. "I've spent years unsuccessfully trying to convince you of my capabilities. I've helped you and believed you when no-one else would. Yet you still doubt me."

Carlton hated not being in control. He was starting to feel a little guilty at being so rough with Shawn. But now that everything with his child was so real, he couldn't help but become a little overbearing.

Shawn continued, his voice softening a little as he understood Carlton was just worried. He knew deep down the head detective did trust him, but just couldn't voice it. "Secondly, I'm not going to screw this up. I want to keep Jules around for as long as I can. The fact that we're even standing here having this conversation shows that I get it, I get that Juliet not only comes with a baby but comes with you breathing down my neck even more than usual. But I'll put up with it all to be with her."

Carlton sighed, not really knowing what to say due to the fact he didn't really have a choice. "I just want you to be good to my daughter…and to Juliet. I need you to realise the importance of this. This baby - well it's the best thing that's happened to me in awhile. Sure the way it happened was a little unorthodox and now you're all up in it…"

"I get it Lassie. You're worried about how this is going. But you don't need to be." Shawn opened his arms, hoping to lighten the soured mood. "Do you need a hug?"

Carlton groaned, waving to Juliet as she spotted them. "How about we just sit down and watch the fireworks."

Shawn gave him a few reassuring shoulder pats as they walked along. "Maybe you can learn that it's okay to lighten up a little, even in the face of a huge responsibility. Besides, if I screwed up I know you'd arrest me on the spot. Not to mention Jules can be a real whip when it comes to Millicent."

"We're not calling the baby Millicent." Carlton stated, letting out a sigh. As far as he could tell, Spencer may have been a con psychic but he was definitely the real deal for Juliet. He extended his hand to Shawn the moment they reached their little area. "But we have an understanding."

Shawn looked at the hand like it was made of gold. "An actual gesture of respect from head detective Carlton Lassiter? Even I couldn't see this one coming. Anyone got a night vision camera?" He shook the hand firmly. "I'll take good care of them. I promise."

"Make sure you do." Carlton replied, standing behind the inflatable chairs.

"In the meantime-" Shawn placed the glow headband back on Lassiter's head. "Happy forth of July!"


	13. Relations and Interrogations

**Part 13: Relations and Interrogations **

Juliet sat at her desk, having finished her paperwork for the day. If she asked, chances are she could have gone home, grabbing a bucket of chicken and chocolate sauce along the way. But there were only so many comic books the woman could read before getting frustrated and eager for action.

There was only one thing Juliet wanted more than chocolate chicken and field work. It was something she managed to ignore most of the time, except during special times with Shawn but even that had become a less frequent. Being stuck at a desk made the hormonal urges seem that much more dominant and Juliet O'Hara wanted to have sex.

Juliet thought about going to the Psych office and seeing Shawn for a while. Maybe it would help spice things up a little. But since Gus, like always, had finished his weekly route early they couldn't be alone. Plus Shawn had been quite excited about a string of assaults at a local gym, a case which the chief had gladly put him on much to the pregnant woman's envy.

Just as everyone around her was beginning to look too attractive, she stood up, thinking that getting some fresh air would be a wise move. Upon walking towards the door, she nearly bumped into McNab. Tall, handsome and sweet officer McNab.

"Whoa, sorry Juliet." He looked down at the baby bump. "How's the little O'Hara going?"

"Going well actually." Juliet eyed the door, biting her lip. McNab looked a little too good today.

The officer reached out and placed a hand on her stomach to feel the baby. Juliet let out a soft gasp in response. McNab's big hand rubbing around her body was doing nothing to help her heightened sexuality hormones.

"I can feel it moving around in there." The officer smiled as he pulled his hand away. "That's so cool."

Thinking this could be a perfect escape, Juliet edged towards the door. "Yeah it is really cool." Unfortunately in the process of her subtle manoeuvre, she had caught a look into the tall cop's eyes. She couldn't recall them ever looking that inviting.

"Wait O'Hara. Umm…" Buzz seemed a little unsure about asking his next question but nevertheless took a deep breath and let it out. "I don't mean to be rude but, how long did it take for you and Shawn to conceive?"

It was only then that Juliet remembered that Buzz was married. Not that she would have actually tried anything, but her hormones were certainly disappointed. Then she realised that, no matter how long the charade had been going on, it really sucked to keep pretending the baby was Shawn's.

Before she could answer with a lie, the door to the police station burst open. Juliet and Buzz both turned their attention to Lassiter, who was walking through the door with a cuffed criminal. His new partner, Detective Sterling, was no-where to be seen, chances are he was probably at lunch.

"McNab, put this piece of scum in room four." Lassiter practically threw the cuffed man, who looked no more than twenty, at the officer. "I'll be there in a minute."

Juliet looked at Lassiter admiringly. She took his hand and placed it on her baby bump. He turned to her, surprised, realising what she had done. He seemed a little confused at first, but feeling his daughter move around combined with Juliet smiling at him, Carlton relaxed into the moment.

"So what did that guy do?" Juliet asked curiously, taking in his handsome features. She then cursed herself for her continuous dirty thoughts.

"Shoplifter." Carlton rubbed the belly, staring at it happily. He looked around and pulled his hand away before anyone could be suspicious. "Resisted arrest."

Juliet saw this as her chance for something to do. At the very least she would get to interact with someone else. "Let me interrogate him. Please."

"I can't do that. Not in your condition." Carlton touched her shoulder apologetically. "I can't risk anything happening to you or the baby. Plus the chief would have my head."

"Please I need to do something. Don't punish me for being pregnant." Juliet pleaded, but on seeing that familiar look in her former partner's eyes her mood switched from turned on to pissed off. "You're not going to let me, are you? Well last I checked I didn't need your permission."

"O'Hara!" Lassiter cried out as the woman made her way to the interrogation rooms. Frustrated, he followed her.

As it turned out, the shoplifter wasn't as low risk as he was deemed. The young man had managed to get away from McNab, still handcuffed, and was now running full speed down the hallway. Juliet just happened to be in his way.

"Move it you fat bitch." He barged the blonde woman in the side, sending her back first into the wall.

Lassiter saw red the moment this happened. Anger gained all control as he watched Juliet. Being right near the scene, he was in perfect position to grab the running man before any further escape could be made. Seizing the shoplifter's arm roughly, the head detective threw him to the ground hard. He took another look at Juliet, unable to resist giving the fallen hoodlum two hard kicks for good measure.

"Stupid little asshole." Jumping on the fallen criminal's back, Carlton jammed a knee into his spine and pulled up the young man's head by the hair. It had been a while since he'd really felt the need to rough someone up like this.

"Get off me you pig!"

"Assaulting a police officer. Well you're just on a roll today. You better prey to god that Juliet is alright." He left him on the floor for two officers to take care of, resisting the urge to spit on him. "Take this piece of crap into the holding cells."

Carlton then sprinted over to Juliet's side, where McNab was tending to her. "Are you okay, Juliet? McNab, go call an ambulance."

"Carlton, I'm fine. He just got my arm and shoulder." Juliet touched his cheek to reassure him. "A little back pain but nothing worse then always."

"At least come and sit down for a bit." The head detective dismissed McNab and gingerly led the pregnant woman into the nearest interrogation room so they could sit together. He shut the door behind them, quickly taking a seat and facing her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I just hit my back, and weakly at that. The guy was a little bitch. So our little girl is alright." Juliet felt the baby move around in her belly. "She's tough like us. But since I know you won't stop grousing about it, I'll see the doctor."

Carlton chuckled a little, picking up Juliet's chin. "You know I worry about you. Especially now since it's not just you it's my future daughter."

"I get it, Carlton." Juliet allowed herself to get a little lost in his caring blue eyes. "I guess it's just these hormones making me crazy. Sometimes I just want to be doing something. I didn't become a cop just to sit behind a desk watching everyone else."

"Well, there are times when I want you out there with me." The head detective sighed, finally retracting his hand from Juliet's face.

Juliet knew what would happen if Carlton kept touching her so affectionately. It was the whole reason she'd gone to get some air in the first place. Helping herself up with the aid of the table, Juliet walked towards the door.

"Carlton I'm okay. I'm just going to get some air." Juliet giggled and rolled her eyes when she could feel him watching her. "Stop worrying."

The man shook his head, continuing to sit. Despite seeing so many horrific crimes over the years, seeing Juliet get pushed like that scared and enraged him more than any of them. His heart still hadn't slowed down, even though logically everything was probably fine like Juliet assured him it was.

"I'm going to be such an overprotective parent." Carlton whispered aloud, wondering whether it was a good thing or not. "But at least I'll be spending time with my kid." He had made a promise to himself that he would not turn out like his own parents and would actually make time for his daughter, even if he had to miss work to do it.

His mind began to drift into fantasies of life when the baby was born. A smile came to his face when he thought of playing with the baby; being a part of her life and teaching her things. Even the flickering images of Spencer with his kid didn't sway him. He wondered what Juliet would think of the name Annabelle.

His thoughts were broken by another presence in the room. "Lassiter, what the hell was going on? You know that shoplifter is calling police brutality."

Carlton's demeanour shifted to anger in time that rivalled Juliet's pregnancy mood swings. "The punk attacked Juliet! I used just enough force to ground him. Not my fault he was running and fell when I grabbed him."

The chief looked at him as if she knew the events had been slightly altered. But she couldn't do anything about it. "I know. Anderson and McNab back up your story. He assaulted McNab then barged O'Hara. You caught him just before the stairs. I'm just glad O'Hara is okay."

"Yeah. We were lucky." Carlton commented, his face getting a little flushed as the recent events recounted in his head. The magnitude of the close call caused his chest to tighten a little.

"You two must have built up quite a partnership over the years." Chief Vick shut the door, standing over Lassiter in some what of a power play. "I've seen partners go to bat for each other, but this was something. Some might call it an almost paternal reaction."

Carlton swallowed a little, standing up to meet his boss's eye level. It was obvious what the chief was implying, but he wouldn't admit the truth. "She's a fellow detective and she's pregnant. What else was I meant to do?"

"Let me cut to the chase." Vick crossed her arms over her chest. "The baby isn't Spencer's is it? Don't try denying that it's yours. Only the father could get _that_ riled up."

Knowing he had been caught out in another affair, Carlton didn't even try to get around it. He'd always known the truth would come out eventually and couldn't help but fear what would happen as a result.

A sigh escaped his lips before he found the guts to speak. "What's going to happen?"

Chief Vick began to get a little testy at being kept out of the loop. "I'm just thankful that your current partner is a man. This is the second time this has happened. If there was anyone who could remotely take your place, I'd demote you for this kind of behaviour. What were you thinking?"

"It was just once. I didn't even know she was pregnant until about three months in." Carlton explained, trying to remain cool. "I know what happened last time, but you can't transfer us. There's a baby on the way."

"Oh I'm aware of that Carlton." Chief Vick threw her arms up in the air. "I don't know what I'm going to do because the protocol is usually to transfer people."

"It's different with Juliet." The head detective blurted out, realising that it wasn't just the baby that made things different than his affair with Lucinda. "Please, chief. Find a way."

"Right now, you have some vacation time up. Perhaps you should use it to take a long weekend. I'll think about how to handle this."

Carlton's eyes widened. "Are you suspending me?"

"Not officially. But with what you did to that shoplifter I could suggest an anger management sabbatical if you'd like. This way it's on your own terms. You decide." Chief Vick told him with a somewhat menacing tone before leaving the room.

Carlton ran a hand through his hair. He hated being off work but he knew things could be a lot worse. It was obvious that the conflicted Karen didn't want to deal with this again and clearly didn't want to split the future parents up. This way things could go just that little bit easier before things could be figured out.

He gathered himself, along with his briefcase, and headed out to the parking lot. On the way he was sure people were whispering about him. A few voiced their praise about the shoplifter and how he stood up for Juliet. Carlton managed to ignore most of them as he stepped out the door and headed towards his car.

Upon reaching his vehicle, he found an upset Juliet. She was leaning against the car door, facing away from the station, crying into her hands. Carlton dropped his briefcase and stood beside her, rubbing her shoulders before pulling the woman into a warm hug.

"What's going on?"

"I saw – I went back - overheard the chief – transfer." Juliet managed to get a few words out coherently while sobbing into Carlton's shoulder. "Please don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere." He moved his face so they made eye contact, hoping to reassure her. "I'm just taking a little break while the chief figures this out."

"I don't – You can't go." Juliet was clearly too upset to realise what had been said to her. Tears continued cascading down her face, making her mascara run.

The head detective ran his thumbs across the pregnant woman's cheeks, wiping away the tear tracks. "Juliet, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just taking a long weekend off work. Then I'll be back. It's okay. The chief won't transfer either of us with a baby on the way."

"You're always there for me." Juliet's voice had calmed into a whisper. Her arms had slid around Carlton's neck and her head was back on his shoulder. She dragged a hand through his hair, laughing softly. "You're even growing your hair out."

"And I always will be here. For my daughter and for you." Carlton smiled at her, seeing that his words had provided some comfort. "Now how about we take you to the doctor's, just to make sure everything's-"

He was cut off by a pair of lips desperately pressing against his own. Juliet, unsure of whether it was hormones or something in Carlton, kissed him affectionately. She urged the man to deepen the kiss, attempting to force the somewhat reluctant lips open.

"Whoa. Not again." Carlton pulled back, gently as not to set Juliet off. "You know we can't do this."

Her eyes met his and all she had to say was one word. "Please."

Carlton tried to protest, but somehow was lured back into another kiss. He remembered the feel of those soft, glossed lips from the night of conception. Soon his own mouth was joining in, capturing and savouring the woman's lips in sweet closed mouth kisses. His fingers wandered into her hair, while hers had migrated to his waist. It was only then it reoccurred to him how wrong this was.

"Juliet, stop." Carlton forced himself back, feeling a pang of regret as he did so. "You're dating Spencer and this is just some kind of hormonal reaction to everything that's happened. Maybe you should go home and get some rest."

"Oh god, Shawn." Juliet suddenly felt ashamed of herself, the tears welling up again. "He's going to hate me for this."

Normally forcing the woman into Spencer's arms would not be on Carlton's task list. But now it seemed the most important thing to do. He knew that Shawn was trying, just like he was. The pseudo-psychic was a decent guy, even if he was a con-artist, and Juliet deserved someone who could really take care of her.

"He'll understand. Trust me. We both had a bit of a scare and acted a little rash. It happens to everyone." Carlton reached out to give her arm a compassionate pat but figured it wasn't the best idea considering her state. "Just go to him, Juliet. I'll see you soon. Be sure to call me if anything comes up with the baby. And I mean anything."

Juliet breathed a sigh of relief, yet still felt a little shame. But surely an afternoon with Shawn could cure everything. His antics usually cheered her up. Carlton was staying, the baby was alright and she was going to see her attentive boyfriend. Her smiled returned after looking at the positive.

Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

NOTE: I haven't updated this in awhile I know. There's been a lot going on. I hope to get the next instalment up asap, but I can't say exactly when that will be. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter.


	14. Let's Talk About Sex

**Part 14:** Let's Talk About Sex

The miracle of life appeared to be getting less beautiful as time went on. Along with the all the changes in her body, Juliet had been reading about the costs and things to expect once the baby arrived. It was much easier to dream about life with the baby when extreme realities weren't involved. Now that she was reading of them daily, it was hard not to stress.

To make things worse, Lassiter had not yet come back from his trip away. Despite promising only a long weekend, it had been ten days since he'd left. Juliet had tried calling him once, only to have the phone ring out to voice mail. She left a message to reassure him it wasn't an emergency, though she was tempted to lie just to get him back to help her. But unfortunately, unlike Juliet, Lassiter had the choice to leave when he wished.

She was desperate to forget everything, if only for a little while. All she wanted was for Shawn to take her away and do things he had no problem doing at the beginning of their relationship. A night of passion would surely release the stress that had built up. But that night all that was planned was a pizza and movie at the Psych office, comfortable but hardly provocative.

Juliet and Shawn had not been intimate for almost two months. Things had been just as sweet, Shawn had been as funny and attentive as usual, but every time sex looked like a real possibility something would happen to halt everything. It was a fact that was pissing the pregnant woman off immensely.

A few times she had tried to push Shawn, without directly telling him of her real and desperate desires. No matter how intense the making out became or strategic the touching was, there was always some reason not to go all the way. Surely someone who read people for a living would be able to spot the signs.

Juliet feared that if she voiced her sexual frustration she would ultimately end up confessing about her kiss with Lassiter. It was the one thing she knew Shawn couldn't hear about, considering he didn't appear to already know. The pseudo-psychic already had obvious insecurities about Lassiter and rocking the boat would only make things worse. Not to mention, it would kill the mood faster than anything.

Having finished a shower, Juliet looked at herself in the mirror while drying her hair. The changes had felt a little uneasy before but now everything in the mirror was almost disgusting. Stretchy skin with a bulging stomach, puffy hands and face along with the swollen feet that she could barely see past her pregnant belly.

"Argh, no wonder he won't do anything."

She turned off the hair dryer and faced away from the mirror, refusing to let her confidence drop. Juliet straightened up and walked to her bedroom, heading for her closet. There on the floor by her shoes was the shopping bag, just where she had left it. It was something she had bought when her hormones had been getting wild, but had felt the need to save for a special occasion. Now it was time to bring out the secret weapon and be more direct.

"Alright, that's it. Looks like I'm going to have to take matters to the extreme."

She pulled out the shopping bag and placed it on her bed. Excitedly she pulled out the sexy black maternity nightie. With a plunging neckline to outline her breasts and lovely lace hems to spice it up, Juliet knew there was no way Shawn could resist her now.

The nightie slipped on comfortably, though it fit a little more snugly then Juliet remembered. The length was also a little shorter than she thought, just barely covering her upper thighs. But while straightening out the black satin bow between her breasts, everything that looked so unsightly in the bathroom suddenly had a more tempting and attractive feel.

Standing in front of the full length mirror in her room, Juliet smoothed out the seductive black nightie and admired herself with a smile. She couldn't help but strike a few poses while trying to picture the look on Shawn's face…and all that would surely follow of course.

"Even this psychic won't know what hit him."

Juliet giggled and headed back to the bathroom to fix up her make-up. The look had to be completed to perfection. Simple yet elegant make-up, with the lips standing out by aid of a dark red lipstick.

With her look completed, Juliet slipped on a light jacket and practically skipped to her car. A giddy rush came over her as she sat down in the driver's seat.

"Momma's finally going to get laid." Juliet started up the car and gave a little cheer when the engine hummed to life.

She turned on the radio and began singing along with the pop music playing. While coming up to a particular turn, Juliet couldn't help but wonder if Lassiter had come back yet. Over the last few days she had found herself driving past his house, just to see. Even though she knew he was likely not home, the blonde woman was always disappointed by the absence of his car.

To save herself disappointment, Juliet stubbornly drove past the turn off. Thoughts of the older man were pushed aside soon after when a fresh batch of what had been deemed the "horny hormones" set in. Her mind was once again back on Shawn and getting to the Psych office as fast as possible.

Just as she expected, the lights were on at Psych when she arrived. Once she parked the car outside, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous on how to proceed. The whole seductress scene had never really been her thing. Then again past boyfriends hadn't been so reluctant to have sex.

Taking the "just do it" approach, she hopped out of the car and strutted determinedly towards the office. Juliet let out the breath she'd been holding and opened the door, shedding the light coat the moment she was inside.

She could spot the top of Shawn's head immediately, letting a soft pout tease her lips. "Hey sweetie. How are you feeling tonight?"

"Now that you're here, the night has gotten a thousand times better." Shawn stood up from his chair and turned to face her, his eyes widening at the sight he was greeted to. "Wow. You're looking very – wow."

Juliet walked over and closed the gap between them. "Just a thousand times better? Well we'll have to change that."

She planted her lips on his hungrily, practically devouring them with a furious passion which stunned Shawn briefly. Juliet didn't even care that he wasn't kissing her back at first. There was no way was she going to be denied tonight. No more tiredness excuses, no more cuddling, no more of that.

Her hand trailed beneath Shawn's t-shirt, wandering up his back. Nails dug into flesh as Juliet clung to her boyfriend and pulled him deeper into the kiss so his stubble was roughly grazing her face. This was definitely the moment - except that Shawn being in such close proximity was pushing her stomach, forcing the need to pee.

But she was going to hold off on that. Right now all that mattered was Shawn. Her amazing boyfriend, who made jokes about getting kicked out of mattress showrooms because they were so hot. The guy whose kiss seemed a little less willing at that moment.

"Jules, you are very hot and very frisky. You're really making this hard." Shawn eased back from his girlfriend, taking in the sexy yet scarily dominant sight before him.

The break from the kiss set off a lustful anger in the pregnant woman. "Oh I bet I'm making you hard, Shawn. That's the whole point."

"I'd love to babe, but-"

"No! No buts! God, I can't stop thinking about sex." Juliet snapped, pushing Shawn down onto the armchair and standing over him. "Seriously, if we don't have sex sometime soon I'm going to go mad. I have needs and as my boyfriend you should fulfil – Gus!"

Juliet looked in horror as the pharmaceutical sales rep stood in the doorway, looking back at her with a mirrored expression. She suddenly felt very exposed, yet was paralysed with shock and therefore couldn't cover herself.

Shawn stood up, looking at his stunned girlfriend. "I was just about to say that Gus went out to get some microwave popcorn. I thought it was cool that he hung out with us."

"I should probably go now. Nice seeing you Juliet." Gus put the popcorn box on the book shelf nearest him. He couldn't wait to get out of the office, yet his eyes were still stuck on Juliet.

Juliet bit her lip and nodded. "Hopefully next time will be less embarrassing." She walked off to the bathroom area, hoping to relieve her bladder and humiliation simultaneously.

The pregnant woman went about her business extra slowly. She knew that eventually she would have to go out and face Shawn, who'd been calling out every thirty seconds for her to come out. Feeling silly and hopeless, she forcefully wiped her lipstick off and washed her face. Eventually she met her reflection in the mirror.

"Okay, Juliet. You can do this. You've gotten through worse than this. Besides, in a few months you're going to do something much less charming in a room full of doctors. So suck it up."

She made her way out of the bathroom, finding Shawn waiting there with open arms. He silently pulled her into a warm embrace, leading her over to the big couch so they could cuddle together. Though it was nice being in his arms, Juliet couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Look Jules, I know things have become a little less active lately but you have to understand something." He slid a hand onto her pregnant belly, rubbing it thoughtfully. "I care about you a lot and in your condition it's a little strange, you know. I don't want you or the baby to get hurt."

Juliet hushed him, touching his stubbly cheek. "I get that you're a little worried. But plenty of couples still do it when they're expecting. I'm just a little bigger that's all. It's an adjustment but we can make it work."

"It was okay doing it when the baby was a peanut, sea monkey thing. But now, there's like an actual person in there." Shawn explained, feeling a little ashamed. Never did he think he would refuse such a woman as his current girlfriend, but he knew it was the right thing. "It feels weird."

Juliet sighed, knowing that she couldn't manipulate things her way. "I guess I see your point."

The pseudo-psychic brought her head to his shoulder. "Would it be cool if we just waited the few more months so things won't be so awkward? We have the rest of our lives for mind-blowing sex."

"It's just that this whole thing is driving me crazy. Sometimes I just get so riled up and I need to know that you still think I'm pretty." Juliet confessed, hanging her head a little. "Yes, I know. I'm shallow and insecure."

Shawn tilted her face up, giving her a smile. "That may be so. But you're also gorgeous and sexy and amazing and hot and how many more adjectives do you need? Because I've got plenty."

Juliet shoved him playfully. "Okay, I get it. Thanks sweetie. Now how about I stop feeling like a complete idiot and we watch this movie?"

"How could I possibly watch a movie when you're looking like that?" Shawn questioned as his hand moved sneakily up Juliet's leg. "Besides, there still a few things I can do to fulfil your needs."

"Like what exactly?" Juliet teased him in a soft voice, moving her face closer.

"Like take you to the Policeman's Ball in a really sexy dress. Or you could just wear what you're wearing and say you're an undercover lingerie model." Shawn replied, planting soft kisses down Juliet's face. Just as their lips were about to touch, he whispered. "But until then we can make out."

Juliet accepted her boyfriend's passionate kisses eagerly. Shawn was completely right. They would have plenty of time to do naughty things later. They were comfortable as a couple and enjoyed each other's company. And judging by Shawn's hand trailing underneath her nightie, there would be plenty of ways to play without full-blown sex.

Yet for some reason, she still felt let down.

* * *

**NOTE:** So where do we go from here? And where exactly is Lassiter in all this? Plus it appears a policeman's ball is coming up, perfect scene for some kind of drama don't you think? Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll try and get the next chapter up sometime soon.


	15. Emotions Exposed

**Part 15: Emotions Exposed**

Juliet looked around at the scenery of the Santa Barbara streets. She had no idea why Shawn didn't want to just walk along the beach, which would have been more romantic. But she didn't complain, as her boyfriend had always been one to do things differently. Fresh air and closeness was good either way.

"See Jules, isn't walking through the beautiful streets much better than the cliché of walking on the beach?" Shawn was asking, while gesturing around to some nearby houses that could just be made out in the glow of the street lights.

Juliet snuggled closer to him, taking a glance up at the night sky. "Sometimes a cliché isn't such a bad thing Shawn."

"Admit it. You think anywhere with me is the happiest place on earth." Shawn planted a few kisses on her forehead.

"I think anywhere might be pushing it a little." She couldn't resist teasing him, playfully petting his chest as they continued to walk.

"Well then I think someone might need some convincing."

Shawn pulled Juliet close, being wary of her pregnant tummy. He proceeded in giving her a sweet, romantic kiss beneath a street light.

The truth was that he had fallen deeply in love with her. Shawn wanted to tell Juliet of his true feelings but considering everything in their past, saying it simply wasn't enough. He had to tell her at a really special time in an unforgettable way.

But considering that actions spoke louder than words, first Shawn planned to show Juliet of his potential maturity and unbreakable trust for her. He didn't want Juliet doubting his loyalty or attraction to her ever again.

"You're the most beautiful woman that is and ever will be." He told her seriously after their kiss trailed off.

Juliet felt a slight blush coming to her cheeks, feeling flattered by her boyfriend's words. "Well, you're the most amazing and interesting man their ever will be. And I guess you're kind of cute too."

"Only kind of cute?" Shawn gave her a look of mock offence, as he knew she was just baiting him. "Do you need more convincing?"

The pregnant woman moved her face in closer. "Maybe I do."

As the couple began to kiss once again, Juliet found her mind wandering. Things had been content in her and Shawn's relationship since her embarrassing incident at the Psych office. But she still felt there were things best left unsaid, for fear of hurting his feelings. Sometimes Juliet couldn't ignore the gut feeling that Shawn was keeping something from her too; a factor which she believed justified her silence.

Once their unorthodox romantic walk continued, Juliet couldn't help but notice that the neighbourhood looked a little familiar. She shook it off, considering she'd driven through all the Santa Barbara streets too many times to count. Her eyes began to slowly flutter shut as she leaned against Shawn and allowed the pseudo-psychic to guide her.

"Okay. We're here."

Juliet opened her eyes and squinted in the dim lights. For a minute she expected some kind of wacky surprise, something she wouldn't put past Shawn. However, she found herself outside a very familiar house.

"He's home, Jules." Shawn said simply, knowing because he had seen Lassiter's car earlier that day.

Juliet bit her lip as she kept looking at the house. The head detective had been away for a fortnight, something very unusual. Even more alarming was the lack of contact. It was only natural that Shawn would know her thoughts had drifted to Lassiter, despite her efforts to keep quiet.

"Why did you bring me here?" Juliet found herself asking, unsure of how to feel about the current situation.

Shawn grabbed her hands, locking his eyes with hers. "You don't have to hide it from me. I know that you miss him. I also know that he hasn't called you. It's only natural that you'd get worried about it. What I don't get is why you feel the need to keep it from me."

"I just don't want to hurt your feelings or ruin our time together by talking about Carlton." The pregnant woman spoke some of her truth, hanging her head in shame. She couldn't help but wonder if Shawn could sense the impulsive kiss as well. Her thoughts were interrupted when the man picked up her face.

"Jules, I know you're going to want Lassie around. And I hate seeing you all sad because you think you can't talk to me about it. You can tell me, I want you to know that." Shawn stroked her cheek gently. "I get that there are certain things you have to discuss with him. Like now, he's home and you want to ask him why. I'm kind of hoping you hit him. Staying away with no phone calls is so not cool."

"I'm not going to hit him."

Shawn was only half kidding when he replied. "I know. But he's on thin ice by being all mean and stuff. Maybe just a little slap?"

"I guess I should go talk to him." Juliet turned to the house, sighing to herself. "What am I going to say?"

She felt Shawn give her a cheeky love tap on her bottom, urging her to go. It allowed a brief smile to come to her face before she made her way up to Carlton's doorstep.

Halfway there, Juliet felt a little conflicted. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to see Carlton, or hit him like Shawn had suggested. While she understood his need to get away, the pregnant woman hated the lack of communication and his ability to escape. A queasy feeling came over her, but when Juliet went to turn back she found that Shawn had gone.

Taking this as a sign, she walked the rest of the way and made herself ring his doorbell. A nervous chill ran up her spine as she waited for him. Juliet couldn't help but wonder if Shawn was secretly watching her from the shrubs, not knowing why this thought made her paranoid rather than comforted.

After waiting too long for him, Juliet lost her nerve and turned to walk away. She'd barely made it four steps before she heard the door open behind her.

"Juliet?" Carlton's confused voice broke the silence of the night. "What are you doing here?"

The pregnant woman stopped, slowly turning around to face him. She scrambled through her mind for the mental notes about what to say when she finally saw him again. However, the moment their eyes met, everything went out the window and emotion took control. She found herself feeling more anger than expected.

"That's all you have to say." Juliet let out a breath and put a hand to her forehead. "You've been gone for a fortnight and you never called."

"How did you know I was back?"

Juliet stepped closer to him, waiting to be let in the house. "Shawn knew you came back and so he brought me here. Once again it seems he was right."

Carlton tried to be gentle with the maddening woman. "Listen, I've had a long day of driving. Can't we just sleep on it and talk tomorrow at the station?"

"No!" Juliet snapped and forced her way passed Carlton into the house. "You've avoided this long enough, it's time you start dealing."

Carlton shut his door and turned to her, in that moment remembering the exact reasons he had stayed away. Guilt was building up and despite how much he tried to push it down, his chest began to tighten. He knew she had every right to be mad but coming back into a situation where he couldn't win was hard enough.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you. I just had to get away for a little while."

"Well unfortunately, Carlton, I don't get the luxury of running away from this whenever things get tough." Tears had begun to well up in Juliet's eyes as everything she felt was being released.

"Luxury? You've got to be kidding me." The head detective pinched the bridge of his nose to avoid looking into her teary eyes. "I thought about you all the time."

"Sure you did. That's why you promised a couple of days and then came back two weeks later." Juliet let out an enraged groan as her fury began to bubble over. "You get to go about your life like nothing's changed while I'm constantly thinking about everything baby-related. This is just not fair! What you did really sucked."

Carlton, tired of being yelled at, finally had enough. His temper flared as he replied to Juliet. Everything he'd been trying to run from came to the surface.

"You want to talk to me about unfair? You can just go around doing whatever you want and blaming it on hormones. You're excused from everything because you're pregnant. Do you think anyone gives a crap about how I feel in all this? Besides, as far as everyone else is concerned, nothing has changed. Most people still think the baby is Spencer's."

Hearing Carlton's side of things, Juliet calmed a little but not completely. "I'm sorry I didn't know how you felt but why did you just disappear? Why didn't you talk to me?"

"Because I can't be around you." Carlton confessed bluntly, feeling a pang of regret once he did but it was the honest truth. "Please just go."

Juliet stood in shock as she watched the man walk away towards his bedroom. She had no idea how to respond to what had just been said. Needing more answers, the blonde woman followed after him.

Juliet stepped into his bedroom, feeling the unwelcome vibes the moment she did. But her determination to get to the bottom of things wouldn't let her leave. She found Carlton sitting on his bed, looking at a fake baby in his hands. Clearly he'd been practising and learning in private, attempting to perfect his future fatherly duties. Had Juliet not been mad, she would have found this revelation sweet.

"Okay, enlighten me. What have I done to you? Why are you being so cold and hurtful?"

Carlton found the strength to look up at her, placing the baby doll on his night stand. "You think my life hasn't changed. Believe me, it has. Ever since that night, everything has been different O'Hara."

Juliet stepped over to Carlton, effectively standing over him. The tears had been let loose at the mention of her last name. "Why are you calling me O'Hara? You haven't done that in months."

"I have to." The man replied, standing up to meet her eye line. "Because you're still with him and after what happened I just can't stomach it anymore… I'm sorry."

"This is about your petty rivalry with Shawn? How pathetic can you be?" Juliet couldn't believe he was being so spiteful over something he claimed to be okay with.

Carlton's teeth gritted involuntarily. "Get out of my room, O'Hara."

"No! Stop calling me that!" Juliet sniffled, trying to hold back more rogue tears coming forth.

Seeing Juliet in distress softened Carlton up. As much as he needed to keep his walls up, upsetting the woman was the last thing he wanted in the world. He placed a compassionate hand on her arm, running it down until he took her fingers in a gentle grip. His free hand tipped up her chin, making their eyes meet.

"I really don't want to fight with you." His tone was practically a whisper when he spoke, as though paranoid that other people could spot his vulnerability at that moment.

"This is your baby, so if you can't be around me anymore you better give me a damn good reason and say it now."

Carlton dropped Juliet's hand, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. His eyes were glistening with water as he tried to tell the whole truth but he knew that she could see right through him.

"You know why."

Nothing else needed to be said, which was perfect because Carlton couldn't bring himself to put his heart on the line like that.

It was a complicated moment. Juliet's face softened from sad anger, into sorrowful realisation. Neither of them could speak for what seemed like an eternity.

Carlton hated seeing her this way and struggled to hold himself back. He knew from their last kiss two weeks before that he wouldn't be able to break away from the next one. Time apart from her had only cemented the feelings he wished more than anything didn't exist.

He turned away from her and finally confessed all that he'd been hiding. "After that night, I accepted that nothing serious was ever going to happen between us and heck, I didn't particularly care. But after everything that's happened, when you kissed me in the parking lot it became a little harder to just work it off and ignore it. I figured if I just kept away for a while everything would calm down and I would get over it. Now you're here…"

Juliet shut her eyes in remorse. "Carlton I-"

The head detective silenced her by continuing, finding the courage to turn back and look at her. "You don't have to explain. I know it didn't mean anything to you. I get that we can't be any more than what we are. I understand that I will never mean as much to you as Spencer."

Carlton went back to sitting on his bed. Juliet, in her tenacious mood, went and sat right beside him. She brought his hand to her pregnant belly and leaned on his shoulder.

"Please don't say that." Juliet whispered, nudging at Carlton's cheek with her forehead. "You mean so much to me."

The head detective stroked the baby bump with the utmost care. He stared at it while he spoke his next words. "I'll be here for you and for the baby. I made a promise that I don't intend to break. I just need a little time to figure things out."

Juliet nodded, bringing her hand to meet his. "I understand. It would be so much easier if we could just be together. But-"

"But you don't want to be with me." Carlton wanted to stay with Juliet, pull her deeper into the intimacy they were currently experiencing. But he knew, for his own good, that pulling away was the only option.

He slowly stood up from the bed, allowing her hands to drift off his person. A sudden cold rush came over him as their contact broke completely. The head detective pretended not to hear Juliet gasp for breath, knowing she was holding back tears. He went over to his dresser drawers, studying them like evidence so his mind would be on anything but her.

"Carlton…I know I said you were an unfeeling robot but I know it's because you have to be. If anything, it appears you feel things too deeply." Juliet was now right behind him. She reached out and ran a hand down his back apologetically. "Just call me when you're ready, okay?"

The man nodded in reply, feeling like a complete coward. Carlton was unable to talk or look at her and inevitably watch her leave. He could hear her footsteps quickly leaving the room. Soon after, he heard Juliet going out the front door.

Carlton knew he'd been a jerk, even though he could think of no other solution. He wasn't a fan of self-pity, hating it even more if others felt sorry for him. Pulling away and bottling up feelings was second nature to him. Still, in this case, he really wished that circumstances were better.

* * *

**NOTE:** Awwww, a little bit of angst thrown in there. But on a good note I got totally inspired with this fic and so the next few updates will be posted soon enough. In the meantime, you can review and wonder what's going to happen at the Policeman's Ball in the next chapter. Thanks readers!


	16. Dancing With Desire

**Part 16: Dancing With Desire**

Lassiter wasn't sure why he had agreed to go to the Policeman's Ball. Things had been so much of a blur, the head detective wasn't even sure he had knowingly said yes. From what he remembered it was a combination of one of Sterling's attempts to be best friends and his own chance to take his mind off things.

The few redeeming qualities the event had held seemed to have lost all meaning. Not only was he going to have to watch Juliet and Shawn cuddle together, Detective Sterling had taken it upon himself to set his new partner up with a date.

As a result he had donned a nice suit and headed to the event in a limousine that Sterling had insisted they all ride in together. He felt a little pathetic, being a successful head detective yet acting like a teenager before prom, especially since he would have preferred a night alone at home, again.

Most men in his position wouldn't have complained. The woman Lassiter had been set up with was a cute brunette named Amy. She was sweet enough, appeared to be interested in him and was known to fire a few rounds at a gun range occasionally. On paper, she was practically perfect for him.

But she wasn't Juliet O'Hara.

As he entered the nicely decorated venue with Amy, Carlton looked around for his table. Finally Sterling found their spots at a table currently seating Buzz McNab and his wife.

"Awesome, we got on the same table as Lassiter." McNab whispered to his wife, which Carlton overheard from the seat beside him.

As everyone began introducing themselves and making small talk, the head detective was trying to peek at the other place cards across the table. He prayed that he wasn't seated with Juliet but his gut feeling was doubtful.

"So tell me about the case at the gym. I can't believe the swimming instructor assaulted all those people. My friend went to that gym, you know. Anyway, carry on." Amy placed a hand on Carlton's arm, showing that she was listening intently.

Carlton, who had been pretty proud of his work on that case, for some reason didn't feel the need to gloat. He gave Amy a vague description of everything that went down, leaving out the parts where Shawn had basically solved the crime with a "vision". Mostly his mind was on who the others at his table were.

"Buzz! Lassie-face! Sterling! They're all here." Shawn approached the table with his regular enthusiasm, Juliet by his side.

"Please call me Kevin." Detective Sterling replied before gesturing to the two women beside him. "This is my girlfriend, Michelle, and the lovely lady hanging off Carlton's arm is Amy. Ladies, Shawn is the psychic I was telling you about."

Usually Carlton hated seeing everyone gush over Shawn's accomplishments, visably scowling or making snide remarks when they did so. But this time his attention was focused on Juliet, standing in her beautiful fuchsia and black evening dress. She stood next to her boyfriend, glancing up at Carlton subtly, not realising he noticed. Each time he caught Juliet's gaze, Carlton silently cursed her for looking so amazing.

"How can we sit talking about work when this goddess is in our presence?" Shawn pulled out a chair, motioning for Juliet to sit down in the spot opposite Carlton.

"Thanks sweetie." Juliet eased her way into the seat, politely greeting everyone with a wave.

"Wow, how far are you along?" Michelle eyed Juliet's baby bump with fascination.

"Seven months, give or take. I'm due on October twenty third."

Amy piped into the conversation with the same enthusiasm. "Boy or girl? I imagine that Shawn being a psychic, waiting until the day isn't an option."

Carlton listened to the conversation going on around him, only paying enough attention to know when to chime in appropriately. How he wished he could have had the luxury to boast about his future daughter and really get into the spirit of socialising. A few times he and Juliet made eye contact, all of them awkward despite the forced smile on Juliet's face.

Finally, Carlton couldn't stand anymore of the talk. Denial only worked for a certain amount of time before air was needed. He then remembered one of the redeeming qualities of the Policeman's Ball was an open bar. With everyone distracted it was the perfect chance to sneak off and avoid any more conversation.

He made a beeline for the alcohol, drumming his fingers on the bar impatiently once he ordered. The whiskey couldn't have slid down his throat fast enough. Carlton knew that he'd be unable to avoid the table, and his date, forever. The only reasonable solution was to get an alcoholic high going.

The head detective was already on his second glass when he felt a presence beside him. He didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Just a water please."

The two made a point of staring at their drinks rather than each other. But the tension in the air was so thick that Juliet finally felt the need to break it.

"Amy seems really nice. I think she likes you quite a bit."

"Are we really going to do this small talk crap?" Carlton practically slammed his empty glass down on the bar.

"What do you expect me to do Carlton? Don't you think it's going to look a little suspicious if we don't talk at all tonight?"

"What I expect is that you'd have the guts to tell everyone the truth. Do you really think they're not going to find out? The chief already knows for crying out loud." Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a grunt of frustration.

"I'm sorry." Juliet sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Let's just not do this now. Tonight is about having fun, okay?"

Carlton was about to answer when Buzz approached the two of them. The head detective had never been so happy to see the man in his life.

"They wanted your dinner orders. I figured you wanted the fish Lassiter." Buzz informed them, looking somewhat proud of himself for doing his mentor a favour. "And Shawn got you the chicken, Juliet."

The truth was that Carlton had eaten enough fish during his two week vacation to satisfy a years worth of cravings. Nevertheless, he gave a nod of thanks towards McNab before ordering two drinks from the bar, figuring he should keep up appearances and get one for Amy.

Once back at the table, Carlton made a point not to look at Juliet. He intently listened to all of Amy's stories and happily told some of his own with enthusiasm. Some of his rather morbid tales from the force received a less than thrilled reaction from his date, which caused her to engage the rest of the table in conversation yet again.

Suddenly, the man found himself flashing back to Juliet's prior warnings about certain work stories. It served as a further reminder that she understood him better than anyone.

Both Carlton and Juliet couldn't have been more relieved when the food arrived. Not just because they were hungry, but because they had something to distract them from each other. The two absorbed themselves in their respective dishes, eating as slow as possible and hoping to delay more polite conversation with the others. Though Juliet gave in to her hunger and wolfed the last of her chicken down.

"Good chicken. Really good chicken." She nodded around the table, trying to hide her awkwardness.

"Now that we're done, how about a dance?" Shawn stood up and offered his hand to Juliet in a theatrical fashion.

Juliet held her stomach, shaking her head. "Do you mind if I just sit for a little bit?"

Shawn's hands went to his hips as he appeared to think things over. "Alright. I guess my surprise is coming a little bit early tonight. I'll be back in a bit." He gave Juliet a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing off.

"Is he always that eccentric?" Michelle asked, looking at Juliet and Kevin for an answer.

"I think the word you're looking for is annoying." Carlton couldn't resist quipping, causing Juliet to shoot him a warning look.

"Better be careful buddy, that's her baby's daddy you're talking about." Kevin clapped Carlton on the shoulder as an intended friendly gesture before going off to dance with Michelle.

Carlton fumed inside while Juliet looked at him apologetically. In order to avoid the look of pity on the pregnant woman's face, he took Amy a little too roughly by the hand and led her towards the dance floor with the other respective couples.

"Okay, I like a man who takes control every now and again but that kind of hurt." Amy jerked her hand away, adjusting herself into an awkward dancing position with Carlton.

Luckily being a cop helped him to think quickly under pressure. "I'm sorry. Just a little on edge tonight." Carlton replied, his apology hardly sounding remotely genuine as his hands held Amy's waist. "Lots of stressful casework, some disturbing stuff. All in a days work."

Nevertheless, Amy was determined to win over the stony detective. "Well, allow me to relieve a little of the tension."

Carlton was about to reply when Amy took it upon herself to occupy his lips another way. She pressed her mouth to his in a soft, flirtatious kiss.

"You're not the only one who can take control." Amy whispered to him seductively.

"Apparently not." Carlton replied, his voice practically void of any real emotion.

He knew he should have welcomed the opportunity, flirted with the woman who appeared to be overlooking all his flaws. Instead he found his eyes darting towards Juliet, wondering if she had seen the kiss.

Suddenly the music stopped and an all too familiar voice rang out over the decorated hall.

"Attention everybody. Hopefully we're all having a good time here tonight." Shawn was standing by the DJ booth, a microphone in his hand. "For those who don't know me I am Shawn Spencer the Head Psychic with the Santa Barbara Police Department and I have an announcement to make."

Everyone's attention was drawn to Shawn. Carlton had a gut feeling he knew what was coming, groaning as he saw that everyone around him looked excited. He held on to the part of his brain that stubbornly refused to believe what was about to happen.

"There is a lovely lady in a gorgeous gown, sitting over at that table there. Most of you know her as Detective Juliet O'Hara." Shawn explained, gesturing to the blonde woman who was now under a spot light. "But to me, she's much more than that. And I want to say to Juliet, so that everyone in this room knows it….lets take a pause for dramatic effect."

"Shawn what are you doing?" Juliet asked with a confused yet happy look on her face. She stood up slowly and took a few steps towards the dance floor.

"I love you, Juliet O'Hara!"

For a moment everyone in the room was stunned, before a chorus of applause and gushes began. The only two people who were silent were Juliet and Carlton, who both stood still and shocked. The blonde woman slowly allowed a smile to brighten her face, while the wide-eyed man began to feel his limbs shaking involuntarily.

Carlton watched as Shawn made his way to Juliet, bringing her with him onto the dance floor. She seemed happy enough to follow, allowing herself to surrender into his arms as the music came back on and other pairs went back to dancing.

"That was incredible. Wasn't that just the sweetest?" Amy smiled, trying to gain Carlton's attention. "Earth to Carlton?"

The head detective didn't hear a word, still in disbelief about the events of the last two minutes. His stare hadn't left the other couple, who were now gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. The last flicker of hope that burned had officially been extinguished.

Amy gave up trying; looking between her date and the one he clearly preferred to be with. The moment she saw Juliet looking right back at him from over Shawn's shoulder, the picture became a lot clearer. She shook her head at the depressing realisation.

"I can't believe this." She stepped back, completely offended that her date was so entranced by another woman.

Carlton didn't hear her. As far as he was concerned, the only people in the hall were him, Juliet and the guy he wanted to knock out for more reasons than one. Even from the half way across the dance floor, Carlton could tell that Juliet was too conflicted by Shawn's actions.

Their eye contact broke when Shawn pulled Juliet into a passionate kiss. Carlton turned away, finally bringing his attention back to the woman he came with.

"What? I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

Fighting back tears, the brunette woman snapped. "Go to hell, Carlton."

As she stormed off, the head detective made a feeble attempt to stop her. He paced a few steps before stopping, pinching the bridge of his nose for being so stupid. Of course Juliet wasn't going to refuse such a romantic gesture from her boyfriend. Walking over to the open bar, he figured that he may as well get drunk enough to forget most of the night.

As the music played, Carlton drank his whiskey down and looked at the brown pool with a solemn anger. All while pretending that he didn't feel Juliet's eyes staring at him from behind.


	17. What You Don't Say

**Part 17: What You Don't Say**

It was the time of week that saw Shawn and Gus going to Mr Spencer's house for dinner. Shawn, who was usually sparking up lots of conversation at these occasions, was uncharacteristically quiet. This left Gus and Henry to make small talk while they ate the meatloaf in front of them.

"Alright, that does it. This is really disturbing, Shawn." Henry couldn't stand the tension any longer.

"Yes it is quite disturbing. There appear to be unidentifiable chunks in this meatloaf. What did you put in here, dad?" Shawn replied, barely looking at his father as he did. He desperately hoped for a subject change.

"What's with you today? You're too quiet."

Shawn met his dad's eyes, still refusing to acknowledge anything was wrong. "You complain when I talk too much, now you find it irritating that I'm quiet. Honestly, there is no winning with you is there. Except on Christmas, I totally win every time."

Gus was able to tear himself away from his corn long enough to add his two cents. "Come to think of it, you have been acting weird since the Policeman's Ball. Did something happen besides your public declaration of love?"

"Had you been there you would have known that Anderson got drunk and pulled out the limbo stick. And for a tall and somewhat clumsy guy, Buzz is surprisingly flexible." Shawn still refused to be serious, though his tone had become noticeably bitter talking about the Policeman's Ball.

"Oh yes, I heard about your little show. You can't be subtle for a second can you?" Henry sipped his beer and folded his arms. "How is Juliet doing anyway? Why didn't she join us tonight?"

Shawn snapped, sick of the third degree he was receiving. "She didn't say it back! I told Juliet I was in love with her, in the way that all the babes love in the movies, and I am still yet to get an 'I love you, too' back. Okay?"

Gus slowly turned back to his food, stuffing his mouth with meatloaf to prevent any comments. Even Henry seemed stunned to silence by his son's outburst.

"And she didn't join us because she wasn't feeling well." Shawn appeared to calm down after, but the grip on his cutlery was a giveaway that anger was still bubbling. "Or because she's secretly in love with Lassiter and is seeing him behind my back."

"Juliet is not seeing Lassiter, Shawn. And even if she was, don't you think you would have seen some kind of evidence of this alleged affair." Gus rolled his eyes at his friend's paranoia, despite how justified it may have seemed to others.

Henry sighed and in his typical condescending fashion rejoined the conversation. "You see, there is the problem right there. How can you expect her to love you when you don't even trust her? You knew what you were getting into when you started dating her and you said you'd love her anyway."

"I do love her! That's kind of the point." Shawn stood up from the table and walked to the kitchen, gripping the sink and staring out the nearby window.

Henry knew his son didn't want to hear anymore. He'd felt that vibe many times throughout Shawn's life to feel it from ten miles away. But that had never stopped him before and that night would be no exception.

"What have I always told you about women, Shawn?"

"Treat her like a person, princess, Greek goddess then a person again." Shawn replied bluntly, wondering what the point was.

"Then don't treat her like a side show attraction by making the first time you tell her you love her some kind of spectacle." Henry sighed at his son missing the obvious once again. "And as for this thing with Lassiter, do you have any evidence to back it up at all?"

Shawn shuffled his feet. He felt like he was six again, getting caught sneaking cookies before dinner. Despite knowing his thoughts had little to no evidence to support them, Shawn couldn't seem to shake his paranoia. The pseudo-psychic knew his dad had a point, but admitting that aloud was something he'd never do. So he plastered a smile on his face and changed the subject.

"Okay, who's up for a game of Monopoly? I call the iron and I get to be the banker."

Having overheard his best friend's suggestion, Gus chimed in from the adjoining room. "No way am I letting you be banker Shawn; you always cheat."

"I have never! Gus name one time." Shawn walked back towards the dining room, continuing the conversation with Gus and leaving his dad in the kitchen.

Henry shook his head, thinking about the ridiculous love triangle dilemma that Shawn had gotten into. He couldn't shake the feeling that his son was going to get himself hurt somehow. Even though the thought of Juliet and Lassiter seemed ridiculous to him, Shawn's tendency to act without thought was likely to screw things up royally.

"Boy that Juliet sure knows how to pick 'em."

* * *

Juliet sat on her couch, staring at the bags full of baby stuff littering her living room. To take her mind off things, the woman had gone on a vigorous shopping spree for baby supplies and decorations for the new nursery.

But now that she sat alone with nothing to occupy her, too exhausted to start decorating, Juliet was forced to think of the situation she'd been trying to avoid. The night of the Policeman's Ball came rushing back into her head like a tidal wave.

For years there had been romantic tension between her and Shawn. She'd even found herself believing that she loved him. Now and again stray thoughts suggested that Shawn may even be her soulmate.

"So why can't I say it back?" She pondered aloud, looking at the ceiling as though hoping for an apparition to appear with an answer.

Everything between them had been such a winding road that Juliet figured that she should have been grateful. She had what she wanted. She'd snagged the guy of her dreams. Yet Juliet wasn't as happy as she imagined being when Shawn finally said those words.

"Maybe it was just the hormones? No, that's stupid." Juliet drummed her fingers over her knees. "Maybe it was just the moment, it was a little shocking and everything was kind of a blur. But then why haven't I said it since then?"

One possibility stood in the back of her mind, but the pregnant woman tried to suppress it with more explanations.

"Shawn and I have both hurt each other. Now things are getting good. I just don't want to jinx it and get my heart broken."

The voice in the back of her head spoke up a little louder. She refused to acknowledge the possibility that depressed her so.

Picking up her phone, she scrolled through her contact list. "I'm just going to tell him, right now, over the phone. When I get it over with once, saying it again won't be so hard."

Juliet pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. She listened intently, continuing to drum her free fingers over her knee. A voice on the other end sounded after three rings.

"Lassiter."

Juliet's heart sped up suddenly. She checked the screen on her phone, hoping Shawn was just messing with her. Unfortunately the detective had absent-mindedly called her ex partner.

After five seconds of silence, Juliet heard Lassiter speak again. "Juliet, I know it's you. What's going on? Is everything alright?"

Finding her voice, Juliet replied in a slightly shaky voice. "Yeah. I just hit the wrong number. Everything's fine."

Before she could hear anything else he had to say, Juliet hung up. Slumping forward, her head found its way into her hands.

Seconds later her phone began to ring. Juliet figured it was Lassiter calling her back. Though when she spotted the caller ID, Shawn's name and picture were staring back at her instead.

"Hey Shawn."

"Come to the Psych office, now." Shawn replied eagerly. "It's important."

"Shawn I-" Juliet was reluctant to head out but couldn't really think of a reason to protest, which was alright as her boyfriend interrupted her anyway.

"Please, sweetie. Pretty please."

Juliet sighed and caved in. "Sure, why not. I'll be there in five minutes."

Reluctantly peeling herself off the couch, Juliet weaved her way through all the shopping bags to the bathroom. She studied her reflection in the mirror, fixing her appearance a little. Then a realisation came to her.

"This is perfect. I can say it to him face to face instead of over the phone. I just have to get this first one out and it will be easy." Juliet smiled at her reflection. "Because I…love him."

The woman ignored the fact that her words sounded less than convincing and stubbornly made her way to the car. Fate had finally brought them together, nothing was going to tear them apart. Juliet had wanted this for years, she should be ecstatic about it.

"I am happy. I want this." Juliet stated firmly as she drove through the streets.

Once at the Psych office, she found it to be closed. Juliet eased herself out of the car, looking at the office. She looked around with confusion before spotting Shawn waving at her from a bench overlooking the beach.

Smiling, yet nervous, Juliet made her way over to her boyfriend. On closer inspection she spotted the red rose in his hand and the blanket under his arm. Shawn helped her onto the seat beside him, easing the blanket and his arm around her shoulders.

"You were right. Sometimes a cliché isn't such a bad thing." Shawn grinned as he turned from the beach view back to his girlfriend, handing her the rose. "For you, milady."

"This is really sweet Shawn." Juliet twirled the flower in her hand, pulling the blanket a little tighter around her.

Shawn then turned serious, picking up Juliet's chin so their eyes were right on target. "I guess after my last display I figured I'd do something a little more low key and romantic."

"You've never been one for low-key. What's gotten into you?"

"You have. Into my every waking thought." Shawn kissed her softly. He looked at his girlfriend, admiring her and figured that now he could finally tell her of his feelings in a classier way than he had done.

But something stopped Shawn. He couldn't put his finger on it. It was almost as if he had a real psychic vision for once and it was telling him not to say the words.

Juliet fought back her emotions in the silence as the couple were just gazing at each other. It was the perfect time to say it back. She firmly reminded herself that this was what she wanted. This was the man she'd been waiting years to be with. If she didn't say it, chances are she'd lose him.

With that realisation, the words were forced out. "I love you Shawn."

Shawn was snapped back to life by her words. His face positively beamed at hearing them from Juliet's lips.

Before anything else could be said, the babbling explanation started. "I should have said it earlier, but you caught me off guard and-"

Shawn silenced her by placing a finger to her lips. "I know and I'm sorry. I thought it would be cool to show you how much I loved you to the world. But I realised that the only person that needs to hear it is you. So here we are, just you and me and….I love you."

Juliet allowed Shawn's finger to be replaced with his lips. She surrendered into the passionate kiss with her boyfriend, maybe a little too eagerly. But it didn't matter because everything was once again as it should be.


	18. Love is a Battlefield

**Part 18:** Love is a Battlefield

Everything in Juliet's life was absolutely fantastic. It was exactly what she had wanted for herself after all; a boyfriend who loved her, a healthy child on the way, a close friend who would always be there for her and a job on the force. At least that was how things appeared from the outside.

Yet Juliet found herself at her desk continually disassembling then reassembling her firearm, what she usually did when faced with an upset. Her times were hardly personal bests for the exercise, but the timing didn't matter as much as avoiding thinking.

Juliet didn't know what the source of her constant stress was or rather she didn't want to acknowledge it. But finally it caught up with her to the point where she couldn't even do the exercise anymore.

"Hey, you're Juliet right?"

Juliet turned to the source of the voice, finding a woman she vaguely recognised but couldn't place. A few seconds later, it came back to her along with the night she'd been trying to forget.

"Yeah. And you're Michelle." The detective put her gun away, hoping to make things a little less intimidating. "How are you?"

"Great. I'm just meeting Kevin for lunch. He said he'd be here soon. He and Lassiter just collared some guy in an underground dog fighting ring." Michelle leaned into Juliet, as though to tell a secret. "Can you believe the stuff that goes on in this town? Doesn't it make you a little paranoid?"

Juliet shrugged, only half interested in the conversation. "I'm a cop and some of it still shocks me."

"But enough shop talk, how's this little guy doing?" Michelle reached over and placed a hand on Juliet's stomach. "Have you thought of a name for him yet?"

"Actually, it's a girl. I'm sure I told you." The pregnant woman began getting a little irritated by the invasion on her personal space. She mentally calmed herself, figuring in a few minutes Michelle would be gone.

"I just hope you're not the one doing all the work. Shawn seems like a fun-loving guy but being a father is not just all laughter all the time."

At this point a hormonal surge was being triggered and Juliet really wanted the other woman to leave. "I guess so."

Michelle didn't seem to get the hint, too excited by the baby. "Then again, I bet Shawn's ecstatic about being a father. Am I right?"

"Actually, no." Juliet couldn't handle it anymore. She stood up from her chair and snapped angrily. "No you're not right Michelle because Shawn is _not_ going to be a father and I'm so sick of pretending otherwise."

Michelle stepped back, looking shocked by Juliet's outburst. A glance around the bull pen saw that she wasn't the only one. At least five nearby officers had heard the stressful, hormonal confession. The blonde detective was smart enough to know that everyone else would be told within the next half hour but at that point she didn't care.

"That's right, this is Carlton's baby. We were partners, we did it and Lassiter is going to be the father! Understand?"

The moment she concluded her enraged confession with a frustrated sigh, the pregnant woman realised what she had done. The colour began to drain from her face and she started to feel nauseous.

"That's enough O'Hara! Walk it off!"

A shocked Juliet didn't have to be told twice by the chief. She grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the door. She could feel the people staring and judging her as she briskly made her exit. Once outside she forced back the tears that desperately wanted to come forth and kept power walking away. As she walked on, she noticed Carlton and Kevin along with their newest collar.

"Hey Juliet, how's life treating you today?" Kevin asked her, surprisingly cheerful as the criminal struggled against him.

"Brilliantly. Oh and Carlton, you should probably know that everyone else now knows it's your baby. The charade is up and you win." Juliet explained bitterly before storming off.

Kevin looked between them, a shocked chuckle escaping him. "I thought I left all the sex scandals behind in Vegas."

Carlton ignored his partner and kept staring after the one he preferred. "Sterling, just book the guy. I have something to do."

"I don't think that's-"

"Book the guy, take all the credit for I care, just do it _now_!" Carlton ran after Juliet the moment he made himself clear.

It was easy enough to catch up with her. Once he caught her arm, nothing else mattered to him.

"Let go of me, Carlton. Just leave me alone." Juliet struggled against him. "I just want to get away from all of it!"

"Go ahead. Throw all the anger at me you want. I've been on the force long enough that I can take everything you can dish out." Carlton gripped both her shoulders firmly, yet gently enough not to hurt her. "But I'm not leaving you alone like this."

"Fine, then get me out of here."

Before Carlton could say anything, she headed off towards his car. The head detective followed after her, both of them getting into the vehicle without words.

"Where do you want to go?" Carlton finally asked as he started the engine.

Juliet sighed, feeling her anger subsiding. Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "Anywhere. I don't care."

The man knew the perfect place to go. A place he went many times when he needed to think. Carlton drove along in silence, knowing that if Juliet wanted to talk she would speak without any provocation from him. But as the minutes ticked by, silence continued to fill the car. By the time they'd turned off onto the dirt road, he was almost worried.

When Carlton turned and parked his car on the grass, Juliet looked around. She recognised the area from where Santa Barbara held their annual civil war re-enactments and the Forth of July fireworks. With nothing going on, the place was currently secluded and therefore perfect.

"Thanks." She managed a reply, still looking out the window as opposed to at Carlton.

"Do you mind telling me why we're here?" Carlton asked.

Juliet looked at him, staring into the blue eyes that looked back with curiosity and concern. One rogue tear escaped her emotional barriers as she took in the features of the man before her. She knew the answer. She'd always known the answer, and so did Carlton.

"I told Shawn I loved him."

Carlton turned away abruptly and squeezed the steering wheel, trying to suppress the urge to get angry. He couldn't believe Juliet would say such a thing when she knew how he felt.

Then she continued. "But I didn't mean it. I never meant it. I had to force myself to say the words and now I just feel trapped. I have basically everything I want and I feel like I'm suffocating."

Carlton softened up, releasing all the tension in his being. He reached over and gently cupped Juliet's face, wiping away the tracks from a few stray tears that had fallen. As much as he hated seeing her upset, Carlton couldn't help but love the excuse to touch and comfort her.

"It's not supposed to be this way. Why should I have to force the words out to the man I've wanted to be with for years?" Juliet pulled away from Carlton's hands. "Yet, lately…"

The head detective's heart began pulsating faster and louder. He had a feeling of what Juliet was trying to say, but feared asking the question in case he was mistaken. However, curiosity soon got the better of him.

"Lately, what?

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Lately, I can't stop thinking about you. I should be with Shawn right now but instead I'm here with you. I just – I need some air."

Juliet hopped out of the car, afraid to be alone with Carlton much longer. She made some distance between her and the vehicle, staring out at the open field. Shutting her eyes, Juliet let the slight breeze wash over her and savoured the few moments of peace before Carlton inevitably followed her.

Carlton sat in the car and watched Juliet, debating on the next course of action. He wanted to be by her side, naturally, but reality held him back. While Juliet had all but admitted that she felt for him too, he knew that a part of the woman was still holding on to Spencer and the fantasy she had built up over the years.

He too was having a battle of conscience on the Shawn front. Despite the annoyance he felt for the pseudo-psychic on a daily basis, Carlton didn't believe that taking Shawn's girlfriend was right. He had known from experience how much hurt that could cause.

Then it all occurred to him how ridiculous everything was. Here was a chance for him and Juliet to be a real couple, have a real family with their daughter. Yet they were so intent on pushing it away when there was clearly something between them.

He'd had enough of the short end of the stick. Carlton ripped off his jacket and gun holster, throwing them in the back seat. He stepped out of the car, walking towards Juliet with a purpose.

"Why should we have to hold back?"

Juliet turned to face him. After catching his gaze for a second she found it almost impossible to look him in the eyes. She wished that she could go back to the days when her attraction to him was nothing more than admiration for his work ethic and loyal partnership.

"We'd never work, Carlton. You've never thought I was beautiful. You've never noticed all the little things Shawn always has. The job is what matters to you." She stared at the ground, feeling a little pain in her chest as she went on. "We're not meant to be together."

A wave of guilt crashed over Carlton. He pinched the bridge of his nose, unable to believe what had come from the blonde woman's lips. Even if everything she said had evidence to back it up.

"You're wrong." The man sighed, pulling Juliet close so she was forced to look into his eyes. "Do you think I haven't noticed you were beautiful? I'd have to be blind not to. And you don't make it to head detective without being observant enough to notice when your partner changes her hair or perfume."

"Why didn't you say something, do something? At least be a little less guarded every once in a while." Juliet asked, not making any attempt to pull away but making sure to stop herself leaning in.

"I couldn't let myself notice those things. The last thing I needed was another distraction. Besides, you were clearly into Spencer from day one. Nothing good would have come of it then, but I know we can make it work now." Carlton slid his hand up and cupped Juliet's cheek. "Please."

Juliet let another tear fall down. "We shouldn't push this. Besides, chances are you only want to be with me because of this baby. And maybe I just want this to work because things would be much easier being a family."

"Or maybe," Carlton leaned in and kissed the tear off her cheek. "We have real feelings for each other."

"Stop it! I'm with Shawn and he wants to be with me in spite of all this." Juliet jerked away forcefully, turning from Carlton. "Everything was so much easier before all your feelings suddenly came to surface."

"You're the one who kissed me remember?" The head detective stated firmly, trying to not snap. "Do you think I enjoy seeing you with Spencer all the time?"

"We should just forget all this, have the baby and be happy with the friendship we have. This way we don't have to hurt anyone."

"Except ourselves. Didn't you just tell the whole station the truth? We're both sick of pretending and why should we have to?" The head detective put a compassionate hand on her shoulder, running it down her arm until he grasped her hand. He gave the fingers a warm squeeze. "If you were genuinely happy with Spencer, you wouldn't be here."

Juliet turned slightly, whispering quietly. "Please, this is hard enough. We should end it."

Before any more protest could be made, the head detective slid his arms around her. "Why don't you tell me what you're really feeling?"

Juliet bit her lip, feeling all the defences crumble. She wanted to do the morally right thing, unfortunately the emotionally right thing was the exact opposite. It was easy enough to walk away, not look into his eyes. Instead she found herself surrendering into the embrace of the man before her.

After a few seconds of silence, with strong arms holding her the whole time, the woman finally answered the question. "Because you already know."

Carlton couldn't hold back any longer, he took one moment just to admire Juliet before swiftly pressing his lips to hers. One hand wandered up her back and into the golden strands, while the other stayed on her waist. Every emotion he felt for Juliet was being expressed in his kiss. His eyes squeezed shut as he silently preyed for her to kiss back.

It didn't take long before Juliet flung her arms around Carlton's neck, giving in and desperately pulling him into a deeper kiss. She let her mouth open with his, allowing their tongues to taste the passion that they had fought against. She could feel a sob of relief escape her, continuing to savour every moment of being close to him.

The moment Carlton pulled back slightly, Juliet captured his lips again within a second. She wasn't willing to break from him, not when things felt so right. As a result the two surrendered into another passionate kiss, cementing the fact that their feelings were too strong to deny anymore.

"I'm so comfortable with you." She felt content for the first time in days, resting her head on his shoulder as their kiss broke. "I can't leave you."

"I'm right here."

Juliet snuggled as close as possible."Thanks for bringing me here. This place is really peaceful and romantic."

A smile played at the man's lips, a reaction he felt no need to suppress. "You know I came here when I first found out about this." He placed his hand on Juliet's bump. "I had no idea what I was going to do."

Juliet quickly put a finger to Carlton's lips. "Please don't ruin the moment by telling me how angry you were with me."

"I'm insulted by that." Carlton managed to say with Juliet's finger still trying to silence him. "What I was going to say is now I know what I want."

Juliet ran a hand into Carlton's hair, bringing it to rest on the back of his neck. "Tell me."

"First, let me get this out of the way." He bestowed a soft and loving kiss on Juliet's lips before beginning a light trail up to her forehead.

Juliet giggled softly and nestled back in his shoulder. Her eyes shut in contentment. Nothing else existed in that moment, just her and Carlton.

"Listen, Juliet." Carlton wasn't sure if he should say it, but he knew it was a subject that couldn't be avoided. "I want you to break up with Spencer."

Juliet sighed in reply as the reality came back to her. "Can we not talk about Shawn right now?"

Carlton pressed his forehead to hers, speaking with complete earnestness. "It's hard not to talk about, considering he's part of the reason we're here. He's the one thing standing in the way of us being together."

"I know, but it's complicated." She lightly touched his cheek, trying to get him to understand. "You know I feel for you Carlton. It's just kind of a delicate situation. I have to be sensitive."

"Of course you do." Carlton knew Juliet was right, her sensitivity being one of her most admirable qualities, it didn't mean he was happy about it.

"Just give me some time. I know a patient man like you can give me that. Even though-"

The reply was interrupted by the sound of the Cops theme song. Carlton cursed himself for not ditching his phone with the gun holster. He took it from his pants pocket and saw that it was Sterling calling. With a grunt of annoyance the head detective rejected the call and tossed his phone aside.

Juliet looked at him, positively stunned. "Did you just hang up on a work call?"

"I love my work but I'm still a man. When it comes to a choice between Detective Sterling and a beautiful woman in my arms, you're going to win."

"This is a side of you I've never seen before." Juliet closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar scent of him. "You're making it hard not to fall for you. Not that I could have walked away if I wanted to."

Carlton's smile widened at her words and made his own words even easier to say. The words he thought he'd never say again after Victoria, expressing feelings he never thought he would experience again.

However, before he could say anything, the moment was again shattered by the ringing of the head detective's cell phone. His face quickly turned to one of annoyance. For the first time in the long years of being a workaholic, Carlton was dreading going back to the station.

"I think that's a sign that we should probably get back." Juliet gave his hand a squeeze and walked back towards his car. "Time to face the music."

Carlton picked up his cell phone, unable to hide his disappointment. He knew that going back to work meant pretending that his feelings for Juliet were platonic. She would go back to Shawn he would be forced to watch.

As he hopped into the driver's seat, Carlton hesitated before starting the car. He didn't want to leave the place where he could be with Juliet without a care in the world. It felt wrong to drive away from something so intimate and right.

"Hey. We'll get there, don't worry." Juliet placed her hand over Carlton's. "Soon we'll be back here and we'll be together."

That one touch reassured him. He knew that she wouldn't lie. All it would take was a little patience and time. Even though it would hurt temporarily, Juliet was worth every second.


	19. Something to Say

**Part 19:** Something to Say

Juliet walked through the station with Shawn, their hands clasped between them. She could feel the occasional stare, knowing that a bunch of her co-workers were still gossiping about her. The few that still talked about the recent revelations regarding her baby didn't dare say anything to her face, knowing they would have Lassiter to deal with.

Despite how emotional things had been for her, Juliet was thick-skinned enough not to care about them. She had other things to worry about. Namely how to tell her loving boyfriend that which she promised was nothing to worry about was the one thing that would break them up.

Juliet allowed herself to take a slight glance over at Carlton's desk. He wasn't there at that moment and didn't appear to be in the bullpen, a fact that disturbed her a little. A simple look from him could make the days following their intimate time so much easier. It was at that moment she let go of Shawn's hand, wanting to be away from him.

"Time to get to work." Juliet said while managing a slight smile.

Shawn slipped an arm around her, appearing to think of another possibility for a brief moment. "I'd much rather make out in the stacks with you."

Juliet pulled away, Shawn's touch making her a little uncomfortable. "You'll have to wait until tonight, okay? Do you think you can handle that?"

"If you give me a little something to tide me over." Shawn leaned in, his lips lightly brushing Juliet's. "Please."

She pressed her lips against Shawn's, feeling the prickly stubble scraping against her skin. While doing so, the woman could feel a burning stare on the back of her neck. Juliet couldn't tell if Lassiter had returned at the wrong time or if it was one of the Shawn supporters who believed the pseudo-psychic deserved better.

"I'll see you later, sweetie."

Juliet slipped from his embrace and walked away from him as fast as she could without arousing suspicion. She was relieved to descend the stairs and enter the file room. The dimly lit, currently unoccupied area allowed her to have a moment to herself. A huge sigh escaped her as she wondered what the next course of action would be.

Juliet knew she was being unfair to both Shawn and Carlton. She had been meaning to get everything out in the open and finally free herself to be where she truly wanted. The words had been so eager to escape. But every time she came close to telling Shawn about her feelings for Carlton it became like the moments she had tried to confess love to him. Nothing would come out of her mouth.

A part of her wondered why Shawn didn't know already, since his job title was a psychic after all. Juliet had never considered herself a coward, but she knew that her boyfriend having a vision would make things much easier. It would get her out of the seemingly impossible task of telling him.

It didn't help that Shawn was being sweeter than usual. Each time Shawn called her with comforting words, rubbed her feet after a hard day, showed up with chocolate chicken when she craved it, Juliet couldn't help questioning her feelings and her potential decision. All his actions were cementing the fact that he really did love her and would take excellent care of her.

But no matter what Shawn did, he wasn't Carlton. He wasn't the father of the baby inside of her. He was no longer the man who filled her thoughts and hopes. The strongest feelings she had for him was not love, but guilt for leading him on.

The file room door opened suddenly and blonde woman snapped out of her thoughts. She turned to the source of what startled her to find Carlton stepping closer. His handsome features were riddled with longing, despite how strong he tried to remain.

"I'm guessing you haven't told him yet."

Juliet tried to control her increasing heart rate as Carlton's hand slid over hers affectionately. "Not here, Shawn's just upstairs."

"Then when? It's like I never see you." Carlton leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Are you ever going to tell him?"

"I told you. It's complicated. I really don't want to hurt him." Juliet returned his gesture and placed her own kiss on his cheek, despite better judgement. "I'll do it, I promise." To cement her words, she snuggled deep into his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

"I'm surprised our resident psychic doesn't already know. If anything, this proves his act is a crock of crap." Carlton told her, his tone increasingly bitter.

"Please don't do this. I feel bad enough as it is."

Juliet proceeded towards the door but Carlton stopped her short of reaching for the handle. He spun her back towards him, pulling the woman into a desperate and hungry kiss. Carlton tried to be considerate of the pregnant belly, but found himself holding her tighter as the kiss intensified. Juliet gave into him, relishing in the kiss she dreamed about.

Though there came the moment when she had to ease the possessive man off with a smile. "Okay, as amazing as your kisses are, pushing on my stomach like that makes me want to pee."

Carlton began playing with Juliet's hair. As the sweet scented strands flowed through his fingers, he began feeling an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It was just like Lucinda all over again; being with her, yet not able to be a couple. Having to keep something amazing locked up in a shameful box.

He sighed before telling Juliet the score. "You're so beautiful…I know you're trying to do the right thing but I think its best we don't see each other until the matter at hand is resolved."

While the pregnant detective could see his point of view, she didn't want to accept the words coming from his mouth. "You know how I feel about you. Don't make me go without seeing you." She placed a long, soft kiss on his lips to try and persuade him.

It almost worked. Carlton could feel his tempted impulses wanting to surrender the woman. But going through the secret relationship ordeal was not a path he wanted to head down again; especially given his feelings for Juliet were a hundred times stronger than those he felt for Lucinda.

"Then break up with Spencer." Carlton knew he had to say the next words in order for her to truly understand. His natural defences in moments of vulnerability were cracking at that moment. "I know you're trying to do the right thing. But I don't want to be with you when you're not actually with me. I can't kiss you knowing that he's kissing you too. If you need me to help you out, we can do this together. I just can't stand seeing you with him when you should be with me…I'm sorry."

Juliet hesitated before answering him. "I understand. I'll have to tell him on my own." She ran her fingers down the side of his face, bringing her hand to rest lightly on his neck. "I lo-"

Before she could complete the words, a finger was forced against her lips.

The blue orbs that made up Carlton's caring eyes were dangerously close to her face. They said it all without words and she understood. While both of them felt the words, it was not the time to express them. It wouldn't be fair to express them.

"Goodbye Juliet."

Juliet's breath hitched in her chest as Carlton pulled away, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes as he did so. Every part of her wanted to stop him but she let him go instead.

The baby kicked her from the inside. Juliet was sure the unborn child was trying to punish her for being stupid. She mentally slapped herself for feeling so weak. It was time to straighten up.

"Okay O'Hara. You have to do this."

* * *

Shawn jumped up from his desk with a loud proclamation. "I've got it!"

Gus, who had been busy sorting through the mail, nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden jolt from peace. He should have been used to bellowing outbursts by now, but lately Shawn had been different, more refined in his mannerism. He put the various bills down on his own desk and turned to his best friend, who was now pacing dramatically across the floor of the Psych office.

"You figured out who's been taking Mr Jackson's money. It was the maid wasn't it?"

"No, it's his wife. For a rich guy he's a tight fisted dude. She's taking little bits at a time and it's just easy to frame the maid." Shawn rattled off the answer as if it was unimportant, as most of his case work had seemed in the past two weeks. "Or the butler - hence the popular phrase."

"Then what is it?" Gus noticed that Shawn appeared to be thinking something over, almost as though his burst of inspiration was wrong. It piqued his curiosity greatly, while worrying him just a little.

"It's so easy. The reason I keep thinking she's keeping something from me." Shawn quickly darted to his friend's chair, moving his hands as if to create the mental picture. "Don't you see it Gus?"

"Juliet is not keeping anything from you, Shawn. How many times do we have to have this conversation?" As supportive as he could be, Gus was getting a little tired of his friend's relationship talk.

"That's exactly it." Shawn flopped down in the lounge chair nearest to him, sighing. "I just keep thinking that because I'm the one keeping a massive secret from her. It's psychology 101 dude."

Gus suddenly put all the pieces of Shawn's ranting together. His eyes opened wide to the point where they very well could have popped from the sockets. He jumped up from his desk and stood over his friend, face full of seriousness and urgency. If there was any time Gus hoped Shawn would actually listen, it was now.

"You're not going to do it Shawn."

Shawn ran a hand through his hair while biting his bottom lip. It was a rare moment for the habitual rebel, but Gus knew those particular actions signified the pseudo-psychic was second guessing himself. Usually Shawn just went with the flow and did whatever came to mind, however reckless. To see him conflicted would normally be troubling but given the situation Gus was relieved to see the pseudo-psychic thinking things through.

"I love her." Shawn finally blurted out, placing his head in his hands. "How can we go any further when our relationship is based on lies?"

"You haven't felt guilty about keeping it from her before. How many years has it been now?" Gus looked down at the other man, like a teacher scolding a disobedient student. "Not to mention the fact that _we could_ _go to jail!_"

"Geez, Gus you know that fact hasn't exactly escaped me." Shawn stood up and began pacing again. The two possible courses of action were clearly at war in his head. "It's different now. It's not just playful flirting or helping her out, we're supposed to trust each other and be honest."

Gus felt his chest tighten, wondering if Shawn was really going to be so stupid. He knew that his best friend really loved Juliet and had been used to the irrationality that made up his personality. But it didn't change the fact that this attack of conscience could screw up other people's lives as well.

"Don't make me beat you Shawn. You're really willing to risk going to jail over this? Not to mention the fact that your dad and I both vouched for you. I like Juliet and all but that doesn't change the fact that she's a cop! Even if she does keep it secret, what if you break up and she's got the perfect revenge dish. What if an attack of conscience has her spilling?"

"You really think she'd be that petty to use it as revenge on the very little chance we broke up? Jules is not like that."

"Fine, I'll give you that. But did you forget who her baby's father is. What if Lassiter finds out! Even worse, if Lassiter found out she knew and didn't say anything." Gus knew that he was likely overreacting but his anxiety wouldn't stop until he was sure Shawn wouldn't tell.

"I know. Calm down buddy." Shawn clapped Gus on the shoulder in defeat. "I just hate lying to her you know. It makes me so crazy sometimes."

Gus turned to Shawn, seeing this eyes looking serious to an almost spooky degree for the playful man. He couldn't help but see that no matter how happy Juliet apparently made him, Shawn lately seemed completely conflicted over her. At first he put it down to Shawn maturing, adjusting to a real serious relationship. Now he almost missed that carefree lack of concern that often lead to sticky situations.

Gus wondered if it was really worth it for the couple to stay together. The only thing stopping him from voicing his opinion for once was knowing just how much Shawn did love Juliet and what he would do to keep her.

"Promise me you're not going to tell her Shawn. You know you can't do it." Gus turned to look him in the eyes with complete earnestness.

"Yeah, I get it."

Shawn said the words, making sure not to technically promise anything, and kept the solution filed at the back of his mind. He was sure Juliet wouldn't tell on him. If anything she'd been on his side when Lassiter had tried to exclude them. Chances are she probably suspected he wasn't actually psychic anyway.

What could be the harm in telling her the truth?

* * *

**NOTE:** Who doesn't love a whole bunch of drama to keep a story going? You can be sure in the next chapter that some kind of secret comes out. So which relationships are going to be affected as a result? The next chapter may take longer to put up, in order to get it just right but my hopes is that it's worth the wait. Thanks for reading! Enjoy :-)


	20. Showers of Secrets

**Part 20: Showers of Secrets**

Juliet knew the SBPD wouldn't miss her for a little while. She could easily finish her paperwork later in the day and there wasn't any major crimes happening in the area, at least not any she could actively help with.

It was easy enough to take a break during the day and try to fix her failing excuse of a personal life. The hard part was getting out of the car once she'd parked near the Psych office.

She didn't dare park right in front, lest Shawn catch her off guard. Despite reciting what to say over in her head many times, Juliet couldn't bring herself to make the move.

It was an inevitable conversation that she would have to start sooner rather than later. Many times she had been tempted to take Carlton up on his offer of moral support. But she knew that would be an even lower blow for Shawn, as the head detective wasn't one for laying on the sensitivity, especially to people he wasn't fond of.

"Why is this so hard?" Juliet cried out, her words sounding so pointless in the empty car. "I want to be with Carlton. I should be with Carlton."

Looking up she stared straight ahead towards the Psych office. Immediately she was greeted to the startling sight of her current boyfriend. She watched as he and Gus hopped into the little blue car, disappearing almost as quickly as they had appeared. A sense of relief passed over the blonde woman as she realised they hadn't seen her.

Juliet stared ahead, gripping her steering wheel tightly. "O'Hara you can make as many excuses as you want but you are a giant chicken."

She sighed and began driving again. While a part of her was glad to have avoiding telling Shawn again, Juliet couldn't help but think about Carlton. Despite her promise to keep away until things with Shawn had been sorted, being away from him for too long was a task easier said than done. A mere ten days without his kiss was enough to drive her crazy.

Juliet was sure at this point the only reason she held off was for some form of self-punishment. Denying herself the kiss she wanted combined with the constant guilt eating away at her gave her a small sense of what Shawn would inevitably feel when she told him the truth.

Just as she had done many times before when she needed to take her mind off things, the pregnant woman headed to Baby Buddies to shop. Her previous trips there had provided her with plenty of supplies for the nursery, almost too much, but she did need baby clothes and a few more toys couldn't hurt.

The moment she stepped inside, Juliet was greeted by Georgia. The saleslady had come to know her the few times she'd been there looking and had always been friendly. It was refreshing to chat to someone who didn't know the full story and therefore didn't judge.

"I thought you may be interested in having this. You mentioned you were still deciding on a name." Georgia handed Juliet a pink book entitled _10,000 Great Girls Names._ "Just tell me if you need anything more, okay?"

Juliet took the book to be polite. The truth was that picking a name hadn't been the number one priority. It was a matter that she would ultimately have to discuss with Carlton once they talked again.

As she made her way slowly to the baby clothes, a smile began to grace Juliet's face. Shopping at Baby Buddies always helped her mind drift away to more pleasant scenarios; about the happy moments to come with her child.

She looked down at the book again, opening a page at random in hopes for some inspiration and couldn't help but let out a huffed laugh at the first name that caught her eye. Victoria.

"Well I don't think we'll be calling her that."

The simple action set off a chain reaction of thoughts. Firstly Juliet wondered if Carlton had mentioned anything to his ex-wife about the baby. Then she felt a pang of jealousy at the ridiculous thought that they may still be in close contact. Afterwards, the realisation of just how much she missed Carlton hit her. Looking up, she almost swore the man was right there in the store.

Shutting her eyes tight to rid herself of the mirage, Juliet took a deep breath. Upon opening her eyes again, she found that her perceived hallucination was in fact Carlton Lassiter looking at baby clothes.

Her heart sped up, wanting to leap out of her chest. She took a step towards him, before reminding herself of his request that they stay away from each other. Trying to will her legs to move, she found that she was somehow paralysed; torn between keeping her promise and what she wanted to do.

It didn't take long for Carlton to sense he was being watched. He looked towards Juliet with the same ambivalent expression. Making the first move, the man slowly stepped towards his child's mother holding a few baby garments.

Snapping out of her trance, the blonde stammered. "I guess I should leave you be. You were here first so-"

Juliet began to turn away, when the book she was carrying fell out of her hand. A frustrated groan escaped her as she tried to bend down and pick it up, her pregnant belly making it hard.

"Let me get that." Carlton picked the book up, holding it out to her. "You don't have to leave, Juliet."

She reached out for the book, unintentionally touching Carlton's hand in the process. For a moment she allowed her fingers to lightly trace his skin. "You know its best that I do."

"We're in a public place and we're shopping for baby clothes. Nothing is going to happen." Carlton said the words like it was no big deal, but both of them knew it was a lie.

"You're still holding my hand." Juliet commented, feeling her fingers twine with Carlton's while both of them still managed to hold onto the book. The action sent a rush of tingles up her arm. "This is a bad idea."

"I suppose it is an insult to both of us even pretending we could just shop together." He slowly slipped his hand from hers and hesitantly turned to walk away.

Juliet caught his arm just before he went out of reach. "Don't go, please."

"What do you want from me then?" Carlton voiced his frustration knowing that whatever she said he would obey. He hated feeling so helpless when the logical answer was clearly to leave.

"I miss you."

The three words shot a hole through Carlton's defences. He raked a hand through his hair, wanting to say the words back to her. Instead, he settled for gazing into her eyes in complete silence. Their stares spoke volumes, expressing words and emotions they couldn't say aloud.

Unable to resist one last touch, he leaned in and placed a long, tender kiss on Juliet's forehead. Carlton managed to regretfully pull himself away from her. The moment their contact was lost, a cold rush replaced all the warmth he had felt being near her.

"I better go."

Juliet wanted nothing more than to stop him again. She wanted to grab him and kiss him for all she was worth. She wanted the moments where nothing existed but the two of them, like the way it was back at the field.

Instead she watched him walk away and once he left she whispered the words they'd silently agreed not to say to each other.

"I love you, Carlton."

* * *

Juliet stood outside the Psych office, waiting as patiently as possible. It was a chilly evening, forcing her to hug her arms for warmth. Time kept passing and she wondered where Shawn was, as he was now fifteen minutes late.

Finally he appeared, looking as carefree as usual. "Jules, there you are. I thought we were meeting at the station."

"No, you told me to come here, remember?" Juliet was unable to hide the annoyed tone in her voice and now wanted more than anything to get things over with.

Shawn leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before vigorously fiddling with his keys. "Well, anyway, I forgot something in the office so…"

Juliet halted his thought by placing a hand on his arm. Her heart began racing as she forced her words out. "Wait Shawn, there's something we really need to talk about. It's important and I have to say it now."

Shawn turned to his girlfriend, a little worried because of the look in her eyes. He knew that listening to her was the right thing, but a gut feeling made him even more determined to get in the office.

"I'll just get this thing and you can tell me all about it." He pressed a soft kiss to Juliet's forehead before opening the door.

Unable to wait anymore, the pregnant woman slowly followed him inside. By this point her heart was not only racing but pumping so loud that she was sure Shawn could hear it. What happened next did nothing to calm her.

"SURPRISE!"

The lights of the Psych office came on to reveal the room decorated with pink streamers and silver "ITS A GIRL" banners. A pile of presents lay in one corner, while Gus's desk appeared to be turned into a small refreshments table. Shawn and Gus stood in the middle, gesturing to all around.

Juliet let out a little laugh, finding the whole situation lovely but slightly odd. "This is really sweet you guys, but aren't baby showers meant to be for the girls?"

A familiar female voice rang out. "That's why we're here."

Turning to the source of the voice, Juliet was stunned as her mother and aunt stepped out from their hiding place. She didn't know whether to be happy at their presence or annoyed at the interruption of her original plans. Nevertheless, the pregnant woman went with the flow and ran over to hug them.

"I can't believe you guys are here!"

"Shawn bought two plane tickets, flew us out here for a week." Grace explained, giving her niece a quick squeeze.

Mrs O'Hara embraced her daughter before turning her attention to the baby bump. "I can't believe how big you've gotten. Look at that, my baby girl is having her own baby girl."

Juliet's happiness overtook any other emotions. She was always glad to see her family. "I know, less than a month to go."

"Your dad couldn't be here, so I took his place, but he's definitely coming up for Christmas. Although, he's still not too happy about the whole out of wedlock deal." Juliet's Aunt Grace explained, always the one to say what was on her mind and everyone else's. "You know I love him but sometimes he's a little-"

Mrs O'Hara hushed her sister. "Grace please, let's not upset her."

"It's fine mom. He's just going to have to respect my decision. He eventually accepted that I became a cop after all." Juliet scooted over and fixed herself some punch, hoping to avoid any further conversation remotely related to marrying Shawn.

"So…" Shawn sidled up to Juliet, slipping an arm around her and whispering. "They don't know Lassiter's the father do they?"

Juliet sighed with regret, watching her mother and aunt talking to Gus. "I just let them go on with their assumptions. I know it's wrong but it was hard enough telling my dad I was having a baby outside of marriage."

"Okay, then it probably wasn't the best idea to tell good old Lassie-face that we were having a surprise baby party for you."

For a moment Juliet panicked, nearly dropping her punch. She could feel her cheeks burning all the way to her ears. Being near Carlton while with Shawn was awkward enough without another secret hanging in the air. Shawn, seeing his girlfriend in distress, urgently led her over to the nearest chair.

"Are you okay, Jules?" Shawn was looking at her with worry. His hand was rubbing soothing circles into her back. "If you want I can take you outside for some air."

"Why didn't you tell me you invited Carlton?"

Grace, who was nearby, overheard the conversation and couldn't resist adding her two cents. "You don't mean that creep who came over for Christmas that time, do you Jules?"

"Now, come on. He was Juliet's partner on the force. He did watch out for her." Mrs O'Hara was clearly trying to be nice, but her awkwardness was showing through so clearly.

Nobody but Shawn noticed the car parking outside and the man arriving late to the party. In a quick move he decided to move the conversation on from its current subject. He didn't want to cause any more drama for the woman he loved.

The pseudo-psychic quickly ran over to the present pile, attempting to bring attention to him. "Maybe it's time to open the gifts. How about we all gather round and show Jules what we got."

It was a feeble attempt as Grace kept speaking freely. "The man's a workaholic, Jules said it herself. Not to mention he invited himself over, brought nothing to the table and upset the children on Christmas. Why do you and Shawn want to let that Grinch into your child's life?"

No-one was listening to Juliet's outspoken aunt anymore. All the attention was focused behind her, to the door. There, Carlton Lassiter stood with a Baby Buddies bag in hand. The look on his face indicated that he'd clearly heard the gist of Grace's rant.

The room was silent and the tension escalating by the second. Carlton was staring at Juliet, obviously hurt by everything though trying so hard not to be. He walked over to Shawn's desk and put the bag down a little rougher than nessesary.

"Some clothes." He said bluntly with a bitter tone. "Also a copy of that book, I marked some names in it if you want to check it over. I figure I should at least get a say in that, since everyone else seems to have their own opinions about my child."

Juliet could feel the inquisitive eyes staring at her but she didn't care about her family at that time. She could feel Carlton's hurt from across the room, knowing she'd messed up. Standing up, she rushed towards her baby's father before he could disappear.

"Carlton wait-"

"O'Hara." The man made a point of speaking her last name while he was halfway out the front door. "I would rather not look at you right now."

Juliet felt an overwhelming nausea hit her and she remained on the spot while Carlton left. Feeling a compassionate hand on her arm broke her stunned stance. She pulled away from Shawn sharply and headed after Carlton as fast as she could. It didn't matter about the cold night air. All that mattered was catching him.

"Wait, Carlton! Don't go." Juliet's eyes were brimming with tears as he continued walking away. "Grace didn't mean what she said."

"I don't care about Grace." Carlton spat, continuing to storm away. "Victoria's father and I played the family hatred dance for years. I'm used to it."

Juliet was managing to keep up with him, despite her body's protests. "Then why are you walking away?"

"Because unlike you, Victoria didn't care what anyone else thought. She stood up to them and loved me back anyway. Maybe it didn't end well, but she fought for me when it counted." Carlton stopped and turned to look into her face, regretting it the moment he did so as all he tried to bottle up came rushing to the surface. "You on the other hand are so ashamed of me that you didn't even bother telling your family I'm the father? And last I checked, you're still with Spencer! What possible reason do I have to stay in this anymore?"

"I tried to do it, then he threw my this surprise party." Juliet touched his arm apologetically, letting the tears fall from her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"You say you have problems hurting people you care about, but you have no problems with screwing me over." Carlton jerked his arm away forcefully. His face was twisted with anger and hurt. "Just go back to your baby shower, and Spencer because that's clearly where you want to be. I'll have my lawyer draw up a custody agreement for you to sign."

Juliet couldn't believe the implication of his words. The effect of them stunned her briefly. Her next words came out slow and choked up. "Is that what you think? I would never keep our daughter away from you, you know that. And you know how I feel about you."

"In my wishful thinking I was stupid enough to think you felt that way. All I know is what the evidence points to and it's telling me to walk away." Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose, allowing his anger to calm down. He didn't want to say the next words, as to do so would be like admitting failure, but he knew there was no other option. "I thought all it would take was a little time, but I can't sit around waiting for you when you don't want to be with me."

"Please don't walk away from this." Juliet shook her head, the request she made came out barely above a whisper. Grabbing the man's shoulders, she made him face her and hear the words. "I love you."

Carlton wanted to believe Juliet more than anything. He wished that he could let his guard down and pull the woman into a passionate kiss, forget everything else existed. But after everything he had witnessed there was no way he could see the truth in her words. As much as he wanted to say what he felt back to Juliet, he had only one response.

"No you don't."

* * *

**NOTE: **Finally this chapter is done! I redid it too many times. Now to get started on the next one. Thanks for reading!


	21. Not Enough

**Part 21: Not Enough**

Juliet continued wiping the kitchen table top with the over-used sponge. For hours she had been tidying up and cleaning what she could in order to distract herself. This way she figured at least one thing in her life would be in order.

The desired effect was beginning to fade and her mind kept going back to the moments she'd tried to forget. She cursed herself for not saying anything sooner. She cursed Shawn for throwing the baby shower. She cursed Grace for running her mouth.

But no matter what she couldn't hate Carlton for what he said, despite how much his words had hurt and the coldness in his blue eyes. Scrubbing harder, Juliet tried to push the image of him from her thoughts.

"Juliet?"

The pregnant woman was startled by her mother's sudden appearance in the kitchen doorway. She squeezed her cleaning sponge tightly in her fist, causing suds to creep out through her fingers, before taking a seat.

"You didn't come back to your party. We were worried about you." Mrs O'Hara explained, sitting opposite her daughter.

Juliet hesitated for a moment, wishing she hadn't left the door open to ventilate the cleaning chemicals, before asking the only thing she could bring herself to. "Where's Grace?"

"After last night, I thought it was a little more tactful that she stayed at the hotel while we talk." Mrs O'Hara looked towards the pregnant woman, who resembled a younger version of herself. She couldn't believe that their close relationship had been tarnished by such a big secret. "Why didn't you tell us that Carlton was the father?"

Juliet honestly couldn't give a real answer to that question anymore. Every explanation she had given in the past seemed so pathetic. It all boiled down to the fact that she'd been too scared to fight for Carlton and lost him as a result.

"It doesn't matter anyway."

The older woman took her daughter's hands. "Whether you like it or not, honey, it matters."

"I don't know why I didn't say anything." Juliet sighed, squeezing her mom's hands briefly and finally turning to look at her. "I tried so hard to do the right thing. I didn't want to hurt anyone. And maybe I was a little nervous about what people may think. But the look on his face, the things he said…"

She stood up and made a beeline for the fridge. Since cleaning her emotions away was no longer an option, eating them seemed like a good way to go. As luck would have it, a half full tub of strawberry ice-cream sat in the freezer for her.

"And I know, I know. The family all has issues with him. He tells inappropriate stories, makes weird grudge lists and is way too into his work. On top of that he's stubborn and can be really insensitive." Juliet grabbed a spoon for her ice-cream, gingerly placing the tub down on the table as she contemplated everything.

Mrs O'Hara had been through many of these scenarios with her daughter throughout the years. She watched with care, knowing that it was best to let Juliet talk things out. In her eyes, it was obvious what the younger woman was feeling, but it was important to let her figure it out. So she sat and watched while Juliet continued staring at the apparently fascinating ice-cream lid.

"And here I am with Shawn. Everybody likes Shawn. It's impossible not to like him." Juliet continued, her eyes turning to her mother with realisation. "But I know that I'm in love with Carlton. I wanted Shawn for years but I think deep down it's always been Carlton. Now because I was so scared of hurting people and making the wrong decision I've lost him and I don't want to lose him."

"How exactly have you lost him, honey?" Mrs O'Hara asked, concerned for her daughter's well being.

"Because I didn't fight for him when it counted." Juliet echoed the words that Carlton had said to her. While opening the ice-cream, she bit her lip at the memory.

"Give him a day or two to cool off and then talk to him. You two are having a baby together after all and by the sounds of things, he loves you but he's been pride wounded." Mrs O'Hara laughed at some of the memories of her own love. "Your father could be the same way, but when it came down to it he always showed he cared."

Juliet nodded, not sure if she truly agreed or not. Her mind drifted back on all the little ways Carlton would show that he loved her. It wasn't always obvious, like Shawn's theatrics, but she always knew. One look into his azure orbs said more than grand gestures from another ever could.

As she thoughtfully took a scoop of ice-cream, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

Shawn placed another layer of wallpaper perfectly on the wall of the soon to be nursery. He could not offer an explanation as to why he had started doing it and, since Juliet wasn't home, he didn't currently have to. All he knew was that if he stopped working, stopped pasting up the pretty pink floral patterns, everything would suddenly be real.

He had no idea what he would say to Juliet when she came through the door. The wallpaper would at least provide a conversation starter, not to mention that he had technically broken in. It was a welcome distraction to keep him from looking directly at her, at least for a moment.

The moment Juliet's arm had slipped from his hand the night before it had confirmed all his suspicions. The look in her eyes, along with the body language he observed between the future parents from a safe distance was just rubbing it in. Even though it was clear they were fighting, the way the blonde woman touched the head detective so desperately spoke volumes.

While he'd had many gut feelings about Juliet and Lassiter, it still shocked him to find out the truth behind them. He had done so much in order to make Juliet happy and keep her in his life, loving him. Everyone else had him convinced the thoughts were paranoia working over time.

The unofficial yet obvious revelations were enough to get Shawn pondering about everything in their relationship. He couldn't help but wonder if Juliet had ever loved him, considering her initial reluctance to say the words. The thoughts caused hitches in his forced calm breaths and nearly made the wallpaper crooked.

Shawn wanted to be angry with her. He wanted to cry, like he had been close to doing the night before. He longed for the days when nameless affairs were enough to sustain and thrill him. But everything he'd been taught told him to act as if nothing was wrong; though he continued to mentally slap himself for missing the signs that were right in front of his face.

"Shawn, what are you doing here?" Juliet stepped into the room, watching him put up the wallpaper. She could see past his carefree façade to the upset man inside. "You don't have to do that."

"I said I would. I keep my promises." Shawn was avoiding looking at her, focusing on the pretty pink flowers that made up the wallpaper pattern.

"I went to the Psych office looking for you." Juliet was shuffling, watching Shawn with guilty eyes and wishing he would stop for a moment. "I think we should talk."

"About what, exactly? The weather? A case? Or the fact that I'm not the blue-eyed Irishman that you've been screwing behind my back?"

Juliet reached out a hand to touch Shawn compassionately, but then thought better of it. "I'm sorry. Yes, we kissed. But it just happened-"

"I don't want to know, Jules!" Shawn snapped, throwing the strip of wallpaper he held down to the floor. In the process his eyes met hers, taking in every shade and emotion. It was an action he immediately regretted, as feelings began to surface.

"You're right, that was inappropriate. I just wanted to explain."

"Jules, I get that you love Lassiter, okay?" Shawn's voice had calmed, but he felt his stomach flip as he spoke the words aloud. "You want to be with him, not with me. And because of that, I'm taking this conversation as an official break up. So pop the champagne and go be with Lassie."

Juliet folded her arms and sighed. "Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't think Carlton and I will be getting together. He basically doesn't want to know me right now."

"Yes Jules. That totally makes me forget that the woman I love is in love with another guy." Shawn replied sarcastically, while approaching tears began to assault the corners of his eyes.

"What do you want me to say?" Juliet threw her arms up in frustration. "I tried doing the right thing Shawn, but it didn't work. I'm sorry that I don't feel the way you do. I wish more than anything that I did."

"Well then it's a pity I'm a psychic and not a genie then." Shawn sighed, staring the half covered wall, unable to look at Juliet anymore. "I'll bring over the rest of the baby stuff later, since you left your party in kind of a hurry."

Shawn stormed towards the door, biting his lip and desperately fighting against his inner depression. He knew that coming to Juliet's, pretending to be okay, was a stupid move but, like most things that came into his head, he had done it anyway.

Juliet caught his arm, stopping Shawn before he could leave. "It was something I just had to do. Just like you did with Abby. You understand."

"Leave her out of this. Besides, we weren't together then." Shawn jerked his arm away, not wanting to feel her touch on his bare skin. The softness he once craved was now something he couldn't bare.

"Okay, fine." Juliet whispered in reply, folding her arms across her chest. "Goodbye Shawn."

Shawn walked towards the front door, every step making him feel increasingly nauseated. He kept picturing the two cops together, as though he had seen the visions in his mind right in front of his face.

The only legitimate memory was one from the Policeman's Ball, where he'd caught Juliet and Lassiter exchanging confused, yet longing, glances for a second. High on love, Shawn had dismissed the moment as insignificant since Lassiter had never really liked him anyway.

The hyper-observant man had never felt so blind in his entire life.

* * *

It was a night that Shawn should have been celebrating with Juliet. He had even reserved a dinner with her mother and aunt, hoping to make a good impression on the family. Afterwards he had figured that some alone time with his lady would be on the agenda, possibly ice-cream and a romantic walk or cuddle session.

Above all, he had wanted to tell her his dark secret. Despite what he had told Gus, the man had planned to tell Juliet he wasn't psychic. Shawn hadn't wanted any more secrets between them. In his growing maturity, the pseudo-psychic wanted more honesty out of the relationship he believed would last the rest of his life.

Instead he found himself walking into Tom Blair's pub as a single man, the irony of wishing for honesty not lost on him, wanting nothing more than to wash his troubles away with a couple of vodka sodas.

As he sat down and people watched, Shawn entertained the possibility of a rebound fling, but he knew that would not come to pass. Even if Juliet didn't love him and they weren't together anymore, something about the notion felt like a betrayal to their relationship.

As luck would have it, just as he looked up from his empty glass to order a second vodka soda, Shawn spotted the last person he wanted to see. Carlton sat at a table far from the entrance, a spot where patrons would leave him alone and waitresses would keep the drinks coming.

The drink was placed in front of him and Shawn squeezed the glass to the point where he was sure it would break in his grip. He fought the urge to look at the man who'd basically ruined his life. Hitting a cop would not be the best idea, especially one who would look for any excuse to lock him up.

Yet despite all the reasons Shawn had to stay away from the head detective, a few questions ran through his mind. The most obvious being why Carlton was at a bar, nursing a glass of scotch, when a beautiful woman wanted to be with him? Why wasn't he taking this chance to get one over on Shawn, like he desperately tried to do every single day?

Before he could even grasp what he was doing, Shawn found himself standing by Carlton's table. He took deep breaths, trying to think clearly about what to do next. The bubbling fury in his stomach was begging to be released in a fist to Lassiter's face.

"Spencer, but of course you'd come here to rub salt in the wounds."

Shawn shook his head, balling one hand into a fist. His resistance was wearing thin. "What wounds? The only wounds you have are the ones I imagine causing you. But I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of locking me up for assaulting a police officer."

"In the interest of saving time, why don't you just tell me what you want and get lost?" Lassiter downed the last of his drink, beginning to sway slightly on his stool. "Surely, you and O'Hara have something planned."

"Considering she broke up with me for you, I think that any plans we did have are officially cancelled." Shawn stepped closer to the table, still not sitting down nor calming.

"What the hell are you talking about? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to get me to hit you." Lassiter's eyes had become wide with anger that almost matched Shawn's.

"You won, Lassie! You got the girl! I would have thought that beating me was cause for celebration. Instead you're sitting at this bar acting all pathetic when I would kill to have Juliet feel about me the way she does about you." Shawn took a mouthful of his drink, audibly crunching the ice as an outlet for his frustration before slamming the glass on the table.

Lassiter let out a defeated chuckle before replying harshly. "The only thing that I've won is the satisfaction of knowing that you didn't see this coming."

Shawn had been used to Lassiter's quips about him not being psychic. But that night was different. His temper flared and in a brief flash he lost control. There was nothing to stop the moment of blind fury that brought his fist hard into Lassiter's cheek. He watched as the head detective stumbled off his stool by the blunt force.

The anger was slowly giving way to panic as Shawn realised he'd officially assaulted a police officer. No matter how good punching Lassiter felt for a few seconds, it was nothing worth going to lock-up for. He glanced around for an escape route, but figured there was no use running anyway.

Slowly getting to his feet, simultaneously nursing his cheek, Lassiter stared at Shawn with shocked eyes. He shook his head in disbelief. "It's astonishing…how you assault a police officer…yet you're always viewed as the better man."

Shawn watched on, a little confused. There was no tell-tale signs that Lassiter was reaching for hand-cuffs. Nor did he feel the need to protect himself from an oncoming swing. There was no anger in the air, only the sense of defeat. The one thing that was obvious was that the head detective was broken.

"I could arrest you right now and everyone would blame me for screwing up."

The older man being in such a state set off something in Shawn. While their relationship was complex to say the least, the pseudo-psychic always hated to see Lassiter upset. He'd always end up feeling a little guilty and usually took it upon himself to make things better.

"She loves _you_, Lassie. What about that don't you get?" Shawn threw his arms up in frustration, noticing that a security guard was coming his way.

"Maybe you're right." Lassiter began walking towards the restrooms. "But I'm still not good enough for her."

As the security guard grabbed his arm, leading him outside, Shawn sighed at the new development. The night had turned into one of the worst he could imagine and despite the fact it was hardly his fault, Shawn felt a need to please and fix it.

"No, dude. This time they're on their own."

The security guard stared at Shawn, perplexed. "What the heck?"

Once outside, the pseudo-psychic shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Never mind, have a good evening."


	22. Too Soon

**Part 22: Too Soon**

Carlton didn't know why he cared so much about the empty parking space. Surely if anything serious was going on with the baby he would have been notified immediately, despite recent events. Still, the parking space where Juliet usually kept her car stood empty and he found himself worried as to the possible reason.

He tried to shake it off and just go into work. Instead Carlton found himself staring at the spot and debating whether or not to turn the keys still in the ignition and drive to Juliet's place. However, after their last encounter, with the man outright rejecting her declaration of love, Carlton was sure that Juliet probably wouldn't want to talk to him yet.

"This is stupid. Nothing's wrong. Get a grip Lassiter." Carlton affirmed to himself in order to motivate his body into leaving the car.

The head detective shut his eyes, touching the place where Shawn had punched him days earlier. Since that conversation, he'd been wondering on the next course of action. It had been confirmed in the days passed that she had broken up with Shawn. Not to mention, Grace was no longer in town to berate Carlton for whatever reason. As a result he'd been avoiding Juliet while simultaneously working up the nerve to talk to her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. The Cops theme song triggered a near panic attack as he grabbed for it. Without even checking to see who it was, he answered.

"Juliet! Is everything okay?"

Kevin Sterling's voice replied to his cries. "Wrong partner, buddy. But thanks for confirming my suspicions as to why you've been sitting out in the parking lot for the last ten minutes."

"Where are you? Why are you calling me if you can clearly see me?" Carlton scolded, though he couldn't deny the sense of relief that washed over him knowing it wasn't a baby related emergency.

"Why don't you just drive out of the lot and go see her?" Sterling said, his voice riddled with disbelief. "You clearly want to."

Carlton hated to admit that he was right, as he did with anyone who could see through him in such a way. "Are you trying to piss me off today, Sterling?"

"Are you trying to convince me you're not in love with Juliet? You know she broke up with Shawn for you." Sterling told him before getting an idea. "I'll tell you what. If you're not out of the lot within the next two minutes, I'm driving you to her house. And we all know how much you hate letting anyone else drive, Lassiter. It's your call."

Before the head detective could snap at his new partner's threat, Kevin had hung up. Carlton looked around, seeing no-one nearby. He figured that Kevin was bluffing, but still couldn't help from turning the keys in the ignition. Shaking his head in annoyance at being outsmarted by Sterling, Carlton backed out and headed to Juliet's.

The ride over seemed to go too fast, yet too slow at the same time. While a part of Carlton was desperate to see the woman he had grown to love over the years, their last encounter had him worried about how to approach everything. He didn't know whether she'd even want to see him, or what she felt for him. Despite everyone telling him that they should be together, Carlton couldn't help but wonder if he had pushed Juliet away.

Once arriving at her house, he stared at the door and ran a nervous hand through his hair. It took a lot more courage than he cared to admit in order to bring himself to knock on her door. He mentally prepared himself for seeing her for the first time since their fight. However, Carlton wasn't ready for what he saw once the door opened.

"Carlton, what are you doing here?"

Juliet's face sported a panicked and frustrated expression. Her eyes looked like she hadn't been sleeping well. Her breathing was somewhat erratic. It was easy to see the pregnant woman wasn't having the best time of it, though this was a fact she was clearly trying hide from Carlton.

"You weren't at work, I thought something may be wrong and I decided to check up on you."

"I'm fine, just go. I know you don't want to be here." Juliet turned away from the door, only to have the man catch her arm.

"I'm staying whether you like it or not. Juliet, you're a mess." Carlton squeezed her shoulder. "Tell me what's been going on."

Juliet lost the last glimpse of composure she had and began to rant about the last few days. "I'm totally unprepared! I have all this stuff and Shawn was supposed to help me but I can't ask him now and you weren't talking to me. I tried doing it myself but my body is just not co-operating. Grace and mom went back home and I have no-one to talk to. I don't know what I'm going to do. This baby is coming soon and I know I should be at work but I can't."

It was amazing how seeing Juliet in such a state made the grudge-holding Carlton forget any other reason why he came. All the thick tension between them had dissolved, to be replaced with care and love. Within a minute his eyes glistened with concern and he had a hand reassuringly stroking Juliet's arm trying to calm her down.

"It's too soon. I can't believe it. I mean, I thought I was ready but I need more time." Juliet rambled, looking up at Carlton with tears in her eyes. "We don't even have a name for her yet."

Allowing his hand to slide around her back, Carlton pulled Juliet into his arms. "It's okay. We'll get through it."

"How can you say that?" Juliet pulled back from his arms forcefully. "When there is everything with us. I don't know where we stand. I broke up with Shawn and I told you I love you. What do you feel? Tell me what's going on? Please don't tell me you want me to sign a custody agreement right now because I couldn't handle that."

"We'll talk about that later. Right now you need sleep." Carlton began leading her towards the bedroom, rubbing her back. "I'll take care of everything. Stressing out like this isn't good for you or the baby."

"Why are you doing this?" Juliet asked quietly as she stood in the doorway to her bedroom, staring into Carlton's eyes seriously. "I know you can't have forgiven me that fast. I bet I'm on your grudge list so why-"

"Go to sleep. Consider it an order from your Head Detective." Carlton told her firmly.

Juliet gave his hand a squeeze, managing a slight smile herself. "Okay Carlton. And thanks."

* * *

Juliet woke up after a long nap. From the room across the hall she could hear the slight noises that Carlton was making. The thought that he was still there in her house caused a smile to creep up on her face for the first time in days.

She slipped out of bed and made her way out into the hall. From the doorway, Juliet watched Carlton in the future nursery. His jacket, holster and tie were on a nearby chair. The dress shirt he wore had the sleeves rolled up and the first few buttons undone. Juliet felt a little blush creep up at the sight of him putting the finishing touches on a changing table.

Stepping into the room, Juliet made her presence known. "I didn't know you were so handy."

"They came with instructions and all the parts. It's not rocket science." Carlton explained while placing a hand on the crib he had completed earlier.

Juliet walked over to the newly made crib. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"It's my baby too. I should do something to help out."

"I think I'm going to need a lot more help from you." Juliet slowly allowed her hand to cover Carlton's.

Carlton looked down at the two hands caressing each other. It felt nice to be able to share such affection again. But he knew from experience that trying to ignore the issues between them would only result in heart ache. In order not to lose her in the future, that moment saw Carlton pull his hand away.

There was an awkward silence before Juliet sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought we were...I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Carlton shook his head. "I just think we should talk about things first."

"Look, Carlton. I know everything between us has been a rollercoaster. Feelings have been going all over the place. It's probably the reason I didn't tell my family, because I just wanted one part of my life that didn't have drama in it. I may have been selfish but that doesn't change what I feel for you." Juliet didn't want to say the next part aloud for fear of the response, but there was no holding back. "If this is too much for you and you don't feel the same way, it's okay. I don't want you to feel obligated to be with me just because of the baby."

A stunned Carlton turned around to look at her. "Is that what you think?"

"I told you I loved you and you seemed so convinced that I didn't. It just seemed like the logical explanation. Then again maybe I've just been preparing myself for the worst." Juliet stepped to him, closing the gap between them and looking deep into his azure orbs. "Just tell me how you feel about me. Why did you really come here today?"

"I can't do that." The head detective told her, a guilty look of regret on his features.

The pregnant woman's lip had begun to quiver and she choked back a sob. "Why not?"

Seeing her on the verge of crying, Carlton grabbed Juliet's arms to offer some kind of comfort. "I just need to be sure before I make that kind of commitment to a woman again."

"I'm not asking for a marriage proposal. I just want to know that you love me. But if you're not sure how you feel-"

Carlton placed a finger on her lips. "That's not it at all. If anything I'm too sure of what I feel. I know that if we get together- well, you've kind of gathered the idea."

Juliet shook her head. "No. I want to hear you say it."

The man hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't resist the look she was giving him. She deserved to know what he was feeling. "I know that if I do this, I'm not going to be able to let you go. I'm going to want it all with you. I'll fall deeper than I ever did with Victoria. So I need to know you're in it for the long haul."

"You know I am." Juliet pressed a soft kiss to Carlton's lips. "I love you and I'm not going to leave you like Victoria did."

"God, Juliet. You know that I...I love you, too." Carlton finally allowed himself to admit it to her. He wasn't prepared for his heart rate to rise and eyes to brim with tears. It indicated just how strong his feelings for the woman were. "But you've just broken up with a guy you've been after with for years and your family isn't exactly behind this. I know that there is probably someone better off for you. I just need to know that at the end of it all, you'll want me. Please just think about it."

Juliet stepped back, taking both of Carlton's hands. Her voice and eyes became completely earnest. "After all these years on the force I haven't left your side. Even after all the complications we've been through the past few months I still want to be with you. No-one will ever get me the way you do." She gave his hands a squeeze before continuing. "But I understand that the divorce hurt you and that you need some time. If that's what it takes to prove to you that I love you, then okay. Just promise me that you won't give up on us before we've truly begun, because you're an amazing man when you let yourself be."

Carlton pulled her into a warm hug, relishing the feel of her. He had to admire the woman's resilience. He shut his eyes and wished that Juliet would still feel this way forever. But logically he knew that he'd probably never get that lucky.

* * *

The _Pretty in Pink_ DVD marked the last thing to be put in the box of Shawn's belongings. For her and Lassiter to start moving forward in their relationship, Juliet knew she needed complete closure on her and Shawn's romance.

She lightly touched the box which contained the bracelet Shawn had bought her before finding out the baby's gender. A solemn smile came to her face as she took in the photos of them together, two of Shawn's shirts that he'd left behind along with a few pineapple knick-knacks Juliet had to give back for baby-proofing purposes.

Her longing for Carlton fooled her into thinking it would be easy just to give up Shawn's things. But there was a twinge of guilt at everything that happened. Juliet did look back on their time fondly and she wanted Shawn to know that, despite the way things had ended.

The more she looked at the box of memories, the deeper she understood Carlton's fear. After all, Juliet had been crushing on Shawn for years, only to be giving all his things back and dumping him for another man. She had been the only one close enough to Carlton to see the real extent that Victoria had messed with his head. It was only fair that the man was cautious to not let history repeat itself and break his heart.

But despite feeling a little nostalgic looking back on her days with Shawn, Juliet knew where her heart truly lay. She wanted to be with Carlton and was doing this in order to convince him.

She also hoped that she could talk to Shawn about being friends again. After everything they had been through it would be hard just to cut him out completely. Her baby was due in a week and, despite them not being together, she still wanted Shawn to be apart of her daughter's life. Juliet said a silent prayer as she packed the box into the passenger seat of her car.

The whole drive over to the Psych office, Juliet tried to convince herself everything would be okay. Shawn had always had the ability to come through with flying colours and make the world better. It was the thing that made him a great friend in the first place.

She arrived at the office to find Gus standing outside. His eyebrows rose the moment he saw her. The man clearly didn't know how to react, considering they hadn't seen each other since the baby shower at which she had basically broken his best friend's heart.

Juliet pulled the box from the car, forcing herself to look at Gus. "It's just some of Shawn's things."

Whatever Gus was feeling it didn't stop him from being polite. "Let me get that for you." He took the box from Juliet's hands, his expression flickering as he saw what it contained.

"I didn't know if he wanted them back or not. I guess I was hoping we could talk about it." Juliet confessed, feeling increasingly awkward around Gus.

"Shawn's not here right now. But you can come in and sit down if you want." Gus placed the box just inside of the doorway.

"That's okay. I'll just talk to him later." Juliet shuffled her feet a little, wondering if the man before her was passing judgement. "How is he doing?"

"Well it's not every day a guy gets dumped for Carlton Lassiter of all people." Gus told her, his sense of best friend loyalty showing. "He's upset but he'll pull through."

"Gus, I know you probably don't like me right now. I get that this whole thing is just crazy. But do you think that we could all go back to being friends? I mean, you and Shawn have been so great and I don't want that to end."

"Listen, Juliet. Shawn is my best friend and it was a little bit of a shock that you dumped him for Lassiter. But he'll will come around soon enough. Frankly I think there was more issues than that between you." Gus explained, giving her a friendly smile. "As for me, I hold nothing against you. I know you did what you felt you had to. You have a good heart and while I may never understand why you love Lassiter, your decision is really none of my business."

"I really am sorry for what happened." Juliet's gaze darted to the ground at the admission. "I still want both of you in my life and my daughter's."

"I'm sure Lassiter won't be too fond of that." Gus replied with a slightly bitter undertone at the mention of the head detective's name.

"If he loves me as much as he says, then he'll accept it. He's a lot more open then people give him credit for." Juliet smiled as the air seemed to feel a little lighter. "I just don't want Shawn to hate me."

"Trust me. Shawn could never hate you." Gus motioned for Juliet to come inside. "He should be back soon."

Juliet stepped towards the door as Gus disappeared into the office but was suddenly stopped in her tracks. It was one week too soon, but that didn't stop the wetness running down her legs. She looked towards it, confirming her suspicions. Her heart skipped a beat. The baby wasn't going to wait the last week.

"Gus!" Juliet cried out.

At hearing her call, Gus immediately came back outside with a face plastered in worry. He looked at Juliet, then at the puddle that had formed beneath her. His eyes went wide and mouth gaped open.

"My water broke!"


	23. The Labour of Love

**Part 23: The Labour of Love**

Juliet sat in the passenger seat of her car while Gus drove towards the hospital. She tried to concentrate on breathing, the passing scenery, anything to stop her from getting upset though to no avail. It was Juliet's belief that she'd be prepared for this moment when it came, but it was frightening how her mind turned to blank.

How she wished for that extra week of preparation. At the very least she wanted this to happen at a moment that Carlton could be present. Juliet knew that if she wanted to really prove herself to the man she loved, she couldn't leave him out of anything ever again; especially not the birth of his daughter.

She reached towards her bag and rifled around for her cell phone. Finally finding it, Juliet called Lassiter's number. She shut her eyes and began pleading desperately.

"Please pick up. Pick up. Pick up."

When it rang out to voice mail, Juliet tried again. Her heart began to race as once again Carlton failed to answer. She heard his voice message for a third time before giving up on the head detective answering.

"He's not picking up his phone! Why isn't he picking up the phone?"

All thoughts of Lassiter left her mind as a sudden, sharp pain hit her. She let out a gasp and dropped her phone onto the car floor. A groan of frustration and agony escaped her throat at the reality of the situation.

"You've just had a contraction, haven't you? We have to keep time for the next one." Gus explained, casting a worried eye to the distressed Juliet.

The pregnant woman shook her head stubbornly. "I don't care about timing. This baby is not coming out without Carlton present."

"I don't think you have much choice in that. If the contractions get too close you could end up giving birth on the side of the road."

"You and I both know that's not going to happen." Juliet cried out, turning to her friend with wide eyes. "Go by the station and pick up Carlton!"

"We don't have time for that." Gus managed to give her an apologetic look before turning his attention back to the road with fierce concentration.

"I can't do this without him. Even if it means I have to give birth in a holding cell."

Gus made his tone a little more firm. In his worry, he became annoyed with Juliet's tenacity. "We have to get you to the hospital as soon as possible. You said it yourself, you want the epidural."

While she knew Gus was trying to help, along with having a point about the drugs, the pregnant woman was hardly in the mood to compromise. Juliet reached towards the wheel, managing to get a grip and turn it slightly.

"Pick him up!"

Managing to regain control of the car after a brief flash of his own panic, Gus snapped."Are you trying to get us killed? We'll call him from the hospital and he'll be there for you. Okay?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just freaking out a little. I'm about to have a baby, after all!" Juliet cried out before biting her lip, trying to mentally prepare for another contraction and secretly willing the baby to stay inside until Carlton was with her.

Gus softened up a little as they turned into the road for the hospital. He began demonstrating Lamaze breathing. "Just breathe, like this. You risk your life every day, you can handle this."

Juliet grabbed Gus's arm, mimicking his breathing patterns and finally able to think clearly. "Carlton must be in the interrogation rooms. It's the only reason he doesn't answer his phone. But, you're right, it's okay. I'll get through this. My body was made to handle this."

Gus found a parking space, gently reassuring Juliet in hopes of keeping her in a calm state. He opened her car door, offering his hand. "Are you ready?"

"Like you said, it's not like I have much of a choice." Juliet looked up at the hospital. If it weren't for Gus easing her towards the entrance, she would have been unable to move. "Thanks for being here."

From beside the pregnant women, the pharmaceutical rep kept saying words Juliet wished she could believe.

"Everything's going to be fine."

* * *

Shawn knew something was amiss the moment he came back to the Psych office. For one thing, there was a patch of water just outside the doorway. The door itself had been left unlocked despite the clear absence of Gus, who always double checked the locks regularly.

The pseudo-psychic carefully stepped into the office, immediately spotting the box by the door. A slight wave of sadness washed over him as he noticed what the box contained. Juliet had returned all his love tokens.

All the facts added up in his mind and found the only explanation for everything that greeted him. Suddenly, knowing he didn't have time to be upset, his emotions switched off. As if on cue, his phone rang.

After checking caller ID to make sure it was Gus, Shawn picked up the phone. "I'm guessing you're at the hospital."

"Why does it surprise me that you know that?" Gus answered.

"How's Jules doing?"

"Like any woman in labour; angry, in pain and wanting the baby's father beside her." Gus replied, clearly a little overwhelmed. "There's only so much I can do for her Shawn."

"Where's Lassie?" Though merely mentioning the head detectives nickname made Shawn cringe slightly, he couldn't ignore the part of him that was concerned for Juliet's welfare.

"He's not picking up his phone, so probably interrogation." Gus explained before doing what Shawn recognised as Lamaze breathing. "Can you go get him?"

"Dude, you're seriously asking me to go to my ex-girlfriend's baby's father right now? Why can't you just get a message to Sterling or something?" Shawn ran a hand through his hair. He felt a little guilty for his reluctance but wasn't in the mood to deal with Carlton so soon.

"I have more important things to worry about right now." A loud shout of pain, clearly Juliet, sounded out through Gus's end of the phone. "Just do it, Shawn."

Gus hung up before Shawn could protest further. Shawn groaned in frustration before locking up the Psych office. Dealing with Carlton for a few minutes couldn't be so bad. After all, it was for Juliet.

Shawn drove Gus's car to the station as quickly as possible. Mentally preparing himself to face the man he had punched in the face almost a week before, the man ran towards the station and burst through the doors with a force.

He didn't even bother to check the passing faces in the bullpen as he raced to the interrogation rooms, looking for any sign of Carlton. Spotting McNabb, Anderson and Sterling watching through one of the one-way mirrors Shawn skidded to a halt.

Buzz immediately greeted the pseudo-psychic. "Hey Shawn, what's going on?"

"Jules is in labour. So I need a favour from Kevin, here." Shawn replied bluntly. He grabbed Sterling's arm, leading the detective towards the room they had been observing.

He opened the door, addressing the criminal. "Hey there, I'm Shawn Spencer and Detective Sterling is going to take over this interrogation, okay?"

An irate Lassiter turned to Shawn, looking ready to return the punch from the night at Tom Blair's. "What's the meaning of-"

"You can't stand me, I get it. Frankly Carly-town, I could listen to you lecture me all day but Jules is at the hospital with Gus and I'm guessing the baby isn't in the mood to wait."

The head detective immediately silenced and his look turned serious. Any words he was prepared to direct at Shawn were lost in a moment of shock and hesitation. Finding himself, Carlton gave a curt nod to his partner and rushed out the door.

Shawn followed, though much slower than the father to be. Instead of racing out to the parking lot, the pseudo-psychic headed for the restrooms.

He took a spot by the mirrors, gripping a sink until his knuckles turned white. His mind was debating whether or not to go to the hospital. A part of him felt sick at the thought of watching the woman he still loved being so affectionate with another.

It wasn't like they had established a post break-up friendship. Nor had Juliet asked for him, just for Lassiter. The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward, especially if Juliet didn't want him to be there.

But as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his conscience over-ruled any logical answer in his brain. He had to go and be there for Juliet, even if it scarred him.

* * *

Juliet sighed as she looked around for a clock. The hospital had set her up with a bed in a semi-private room that luckily had no-one else in it. Her progress was being tracked by the nurses, along with Gus who continued to sit with her.

She finally felt the need to voice her grievances. "You think a baby that broke my water a week early would be racing to get out. What do you think would happen if I just pushed really hard right now?"

Gus didn't want to be the barer of bad news, but felt the need to answer Juliet's question lest she actually try a desperate move. "It would most likely end up pro-longing your labour, dragging out the whole process even more."

"Damn this! You'd think they'd have found a way to speed this up. I know I said I'd wait for Carlton but this is just insane."

"If it makes you feel any better, a lot of other women would say you're moving along quite quickly by comparison." Gus replied in attempt to reassure his friend.

Juliet turned to him, her irritated mood clear by the expression on her face. "As much as I appreciate you being here Gus, I'm so not in the mood for the facts and figures right now."

From his pocket, Gus's phone vibrated. Though he had expected Juliet to be less than enthusiastic about being in labour, he was thankful for the interruption. He read the text message that Shawn sent him about Carlton heading their way, grateful for the news. Juliet clearly preferred that Carlton was there and he wasn't one to argue against it.

"Is that from Carlton? Is he coming?" Juliet's looked turned hopeful at the possibility.

"Actually it was Shawn. Lassiter is on his way here right now." Gus explained, feeling a certain amount of weight lifting from his shoulders. Even if they were friends, being in the hospital with a woman in labour was hard enough. But on top of that the child's father was the man who broke his best friend's heart. It was not an ideal situation.

Instead of relief, Juliet began to look a little worried. "What about Shawn, is he coming?"

"He didn't say. Did you want him to come or not?"

"I don't know, Gus. But I'm pretty sure the hospital frowns upon two men fighting in the delivery room. I guess it doesn't matter though, Shawn probably doesn't want to be here and who can blame him." Juliet sighed, wanting nothing more than just to fall asleep until everything worked itself out. She had read that the whole process could take hours of waiting and physical pain, even with drugs. The last thing she needed was more drama. "I don't mean to dump this all on you, Gus. You can leave if you want. I'm sure Carlton will be here soon."

"I'll stay until he gets here." Despite a certain desire to leave the situation, Gus knew that for friendship and morality he had to stay with her. He petted her shoulder compassionately. "You'll get through this and everything will be fine."

"Until then, I just have to worry about everything else." Juliet just managed to finish her sentence before another contraction hit. She tried her best to breath through the pain, but ended up yelling out. How the chief went through this without drugs, she had no idea.

Gus winced as Juliet squeezed his hand in what could only be described as a vice-like death grip. He ended up letting out his own shout. "Are you trying to break my hand off?"

Juliet exhaustedly wiped some sweat from her forehead, ignoring Gus's comment. "Surely this has got to mean that we're getting close. What was the time on that one?"

Gus shook out his hand and glanced at his watch, gritting his teeth a little. "I don't think you want to know."

* * *

Carlton stood outside Juliet's room at the hospital, hesitating for a moment. He had no control over his thoughts or emotions, a fact which alarmed him. One thing the head detective did know for sure is that once he entered the room everything was going to change.

He was really going to be with Juliet, if she still wanted him. He was going to have a baby girl, a human that knew nothing but the love of her parents. Carlton knew that he would view the world and everything in it differently from now on.

"Wow. This is it."

Like Juliet, he wished that he had the extra week to prepare for the overwhelming feelings; both regarding his daughter and his step into an intense romance. Realistically, Carlton figured it probably wouldn't have made a difference. A life changing event like what was waiting behind that door was enough to leave anyone short of breath.

But Carlton's thoughts were soon cleared as he heard a cry from the direction of his love, enabling to take the steps over the threshold into a new life. His heart raced as he rushed into the room, taking in the sight of his Juliet on a hospital bed. Even in her current state, Carlton couldn't help but find her incredibly beautiful. He barely noticed Gus and the nurse in the room with her.

Juliet looked at him, a mixture of relief and annoyance plastered on her face. "It's about time you got here."

Carlton felt a little off put by the comment, but grabbed Juliet's hand between his own. "I'm here. That's what matters. How are you feeling?"

"It's no picnic, Carlton." Juliet sighed, before her expression softened a little. She managed a smile for him. "I'm glad you're here though. I didn't want to do this without you."

The nurse piped up, having finished checking over Juliet, interrupting the moment between the two. "Well we still have a little while to go yet. You're doing really great, though." She positively beamed while leaving the room.

Juliet shook her head. "I hate how she can stay so perky. It's so easy when you're not the one about to explode. What a bitch."

Gus stood up and made his way towards the door, taking Lassiter's arrival as cue to exit. "I'll leave you two alone for a little while."

Even though they weren't exactly friends, Carlton felt a great amount of gratitude for Gus at that moment. "Thank you for everything, Guster. You're a good guy and...well, I really hope you'll be a big part of our daughter's life."

Gus shot a confused, yet thankful look to the head detective. "I appreciate that, Lassiter."

"And also…be sure to thank Spencer. He'll know why." Carlton added, mumbling slightly as he spoke.

The pharmaceutical rep gave a nod of recognition, though the confusion was still plain on his face as he left the room.

His attention now completely on the woman he loved, Carlton felt the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Despite the frustration and pain she was no doubt feeling, Juliet was smiling right back at him. The man couldn't resist a soft chuckle as he brought his lips to Juliet's hand.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Juliet bowed her head and kissed his hand in return. "It's just nice seeing you being all sweet. Your sensitive side can be really cute."

"Cute, really?" Carlton hadn't really heard that particular word used to describe him before. Yet the effect of the word was nonetheless flattering and a blush began creeping up the back of his neck.

She nodded in reply, giggling slightly. "In fact, it makes me want to kiss- Oh! OW!"

Carlton nearly jumped as Juliet cried out in pain. He was at a loss of what to do, so he simply rubbed Juliet's shoulder and said whatever words came to mind, hoping that they comforted her.

"Geez, why did I agree to go through with this? Do you really think we can do this?" Juliet blurted out, looking at Carlton with hope that he held a magical answer.

"Honestly?" Carlton looked deep into her eyes, pressing his forehead to hers. He let the first words that came to mind come forth. "I think you can do anything."

"Oh you really shouldn't lie to me. Gus already tried all of that crap." Juliet flopped back and shut her eyes, her brief moment of contentment at Carlton's arrival clearly long gone. "I just wish this thing would get out already."

Determined not to let the less pleasant side of birth ruin his moment, Carlton lightly cupped Juliet's face and turned it back to his own. "I'm telling the truth, Juliet. You know I am."

"I know. I know." Juliet replied, covering one of Carlton's hands with her own in an apologetic gesture. Her thumb ran over all his knuckles softly. "But aren't you just a little scared?"

The truth was that Carlton was more than a little scared of all the potential outcomes. All of them had ran through his mind from the moment he'd found the sonogram in Juliet's desk. The feelings between them and the fear of losing her had only made things more complicated.

But he knew that's not what Juliet needed to hear. Instead Carlton bent down and captured her lips in his own, feeling a wave of calm wash over him the moment she began kissing him back.

"I love you."

* * *

**NOTE: **I know it's been awhile. But with the combination of drama, moving around, writer's block and wanting this to be a fast paced, yet not rushed, chapter had me dely the story. I apologise to all the readers of this, but nevertheless thank you for reading this chapter. The next chapter shouldn't have such a long waiting time. Continue to enjoy the story :-)


	24. One More Hurdle

**Part 24: One More Hurdle**

Juliet groaned, looking towards the clock, watching a few more seconds of labour tick by. It was futile as she'd stopped keeping track of the time long ago, having more important matters on her mind. The hours kept passing as waiting, pain and sleep deprivation continued to aggravate her.

She turned to Carlton, who was pacing back and forth in the space provided in order to stretch his legs. He had been looking increasingly tired as time went on, but was too restless to sit perfectly still like he had on many of their stakeouts together. The man was in desperate need of a coffee, but had stubbornly refused to leave Juliet's side.

In a way, Juliet didn't want him to go anywhere. She thought it was sweet that Carlton was putting her above all else. Before he would only show this amount of dedication to his job, giving an indication of how things were evolving between them. Juliet admired his ability to stay strong and loyal, especially when her worst traits were coming to light with the current predicament.

Dreamy thoughts of him were broken up by the stress once again. "How much longer is this going to take? Can't you just reach in there and yank it out like they do with cows."

Carlton stopped pacing, a perplexed expression on his face at Juliet's suggestion. He took his seat by her bedside, petting her arm. "Nurses said that we're getting there. It'll be soon enough."

Juliet shook her head, just wanting everything to be over with. "Can you remember why we decided to do this in the first place?"

Carlton trailed his touch down and gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze, deciding not to bring up that he'd not actually had a say in the matter. "Look at me, Juliet. We're going to get through this together and everything is going to be great." He smiled hoping to reassure her of this fact.

Unfortunately, Juliet was clearly not in the mood. She glared at Carlton, summoning all the frustration she could muster. "What do you mean by 'together'? I don't see a person coming out of you. And you're not the one about to have another damn contraction - OW OW!"

Carlton winced as Juliet once again gripped his hand tighter than he'd ever imagined possible. But it didn't stop him trying to be as comforting as he could be. "Okay, just breathe. I'm right here for you. Breathe, Juliet."

"I can't take this crap anymore. I hate being stuck in this room for hours on end subjected to all this. It's like I'm a hostage or something." Juliet turned to Carlton, taking her anger and impatience out on the only available target. "Why didn't you just push me away? No, you had to be all sexy, and willing, and fertile, and fantastic in bed."

Carlton raised an eyebrow, unable to suppress a smile. "Really? Fantastic, you say?"

Jerking her hand away from his, Juliet turned to face the opposite wall. "I love you but you're making it so hard to like you right now."

The head detective knew that Juliet didn't mean it the way it sounded. She wanted this baby, and his love along with it, but was in pain that Carlton knew he couldn't comprehend. Nevertheless the comment still stung, bringing up all the fear he had of losing Juliet.

He sighed and rubbed his face, as if to clear away some of the tiredness. There was no way he could be anything less than one hundred and twenty percent for her. He could not afford to mess this up.

"Maybe I should go get some coffee or something. Give us both a chance to calm down and me a chance to wake up."

"Why don't you do that then." Juliet huffed, still not looking at her baby's father.

Carlton stood up and headed towards the door. He could practically taste the sweet caffeine that he urgently needed. It would be better for the woman he loved, not to mention their baby, if he was as alert as possible.

"You're not actually leaving are you?"

The man turned back and stared at Juliet, who was looking back at him with scared upset eyes. It didn't take Carlton any time before he was back at her bedside, sandwiching her hand between both of his.

"I'm sorry for snapping." Juliet told him, placing her free hand on his cheek. "You know that I need you here with me, right? You know that I love you and this baby with everything that I have."

"It's okay. I understand, well, not the pain part because you've made it pretty clear that I will never have that particular experience." Carlton replied, moving in close to her face until their foreheads touched.

Juliet managed a half smile. "As long as you still love me after all of this."

Closing the gap, the head detective softly brushed his lips against Juliet's. "You know I love you."

Juliet lay back and managed to relax a little. She shut her eyes and let out a satisfied hum as Carlton continuously stroked her hair. The simple action reassured her more than any words had in the hours past. She tried to enjoy the simple intimacy before a contraction, nurses or general impatience would no doubt break up the mood.

Soon after, an uncomfortable feeling came over her. It was like she was being watched by someone other than Carlton. Allowing her eyes to flutter open, she found her suspicions had been correct as she saw the person standing by the doorway.

Juliet sat up slightly, her mouth gaping open as she looked at the figure she partly hoped was a hallucination.

"Shawn?"

The pseudo-psychic stepped further into the room, proving to Juliet and Lassiter that their eyes weren't deceiving them. The look on his face seemed to hold doubt, as though Shawn was still debating on whether to fight or flee.

"Hey Jules." Shawn replied simply, his voice void of any real emotion or enthusiasm. "Lassie."

"Spencer."

An awkward silence spread across the room. None of them knew what to say, despite the need to verbalise their obvious concerns. The three of them kept glancing to and from each other, trying to figure out the best course of action.

The tension was broken by a loud cry from Juliet as the result of another painful contraction. Carlton turned his attention right back to her. Shawn had rushed to the other side of Juliet's bed, taking her free hand and helping her through.

"Now's not a good time for post break-up talk, Shawn." Juliet snapped, on the verge of tears from both physical and emotional turmoil.

"Are you kidding me? Jules, we've established that you love someone else, okay. I don't know about you but when someone I care about is having a baby I will be there to show my support." Shawn explained, offended by Juliet's reaction despite the expectation of it. "It may have taken hours of debating whether or not I should come, with a nap in between, and Gus kicking my ass but I'm right here just like I said I would be. You think I'd just go back on my word just because we've broken up?"

It was Carlton who replied to the question, his voice unnaturally quiet. "No. You wouldn't."

Juliet turned to Carlton in surprise. They looked at each other, their stares speaking without words, the way only partners and lovers could truly understand. Carlton cupped her face and kissed her gently, giving a slow nod as he pulled back.

Shawn, who couldn't control his heart sinking in the increasingly unwelcoming situation, spoke up. "But if you two want me to go, just tell me now and I'm gone."

Yet another wave of tense silence hit the room. Carlton soft blue eyes remained on Juliet, implying that he would go with whatever she wished. She turned to Shawn in preparation to give him an answer.

Suddenly Juliet cried out, forgetting the other man in the room and grabbing her stomach in the process. "Carlton, help me. Where is the damn doctor! I can feel it. This thing is coming now!"

"Okay, just hold on and breathe. I'll get someone." Carlton jumped off his chair, ready to rush off and help. However, Juliet grabbing his hand prevented him from going anywhere.

"You're staying with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Juliet pulled Carlton back as close to the bed as possible. Her attention then turned to Shawn, igniting her short fuse. "Shawn, why are you still standing there? Go now!"

Shawn's eyes became instantly glassy as a wave of shock overtook him. With two blunt, angry words, Juliet had banished him from her new life. He had never once considered that in all the drama she would abandon him completely. Shawn's gaze briefly met Carlton's almost apologetic one, before the older man naturally turned all his consideration back to the woman beside him.

"Shawn, are you deaf! Go get a doctor or a nurse! This baby is coming right now."

Snapping out of his paralysing trance, Shawn realised what Juliet was actually requesting of him. A slight rush of relief hit before he ran out of the room to grab any medical professional he could find.

* * *

The moment had finally come. It was her, Carlton and the delivery room. Juliet's emotions were all over the place, anxious and excited, determined and doubtful. She wished she could pass out, waking up only when the birth itself was complete. But mental escape was hardly an option as the shooting pains kept bringing her back into the moment.

"Keep breathing. Just like that."

Juliet concentrated on Carlton's firm yet oddly soothing words in order to keep her mind at some kind of ease. She followed his instructions, breathing in time with him while mentally preparing for the task ahead.

"Get ready Juliet. Remember that I love you."

As sweet as it was, love was the last thing on Juliet's mind. Her legs were in the air, a woman between them shouting instructions about pushing. Juliet tried to obey the doctor, willing her baby girl to find the way out as quickly as possible. The scream she'd tried to hold in escaped her throat. As exhaustion overtook her and she couldn't push anymore, Juliet found herself crying at the process not yet being completed.

"Get it out of me! Please. Oh f-"

So much was going on, it was all so overwhelming. Juliet had read about the many things that could happen during the birthing process. Frankly, she wasn't caring so much about some of the extra unpleasantness. All she could feel was the pain and the desperate need to get the baby out.

"Okay Juliet, you're going to have to push now. Come on!"

Through her fits of yelling and tears, Carlton squeezed her hand. He kept looking back and forth between his emerging baby and his distressed love. It was a rare thing when he couldn't focus, even more concerning when his emotions took over any spark of concentration. Carlton tried to reassure Juliet, comfort her in this time of extreme need. But for all he knew his "I love you" was coming out in gibberish.

"Okay Juliet, the baby is in a more complicated position then we thought. We can get her out but we really have to push. Now go!"

In reality, Juliet preyed the doctor was joking. She wanted to scream at the woman, practically blame her. But Juliet obeyed the doctor, too scared not to listen. If she could grasp anything through her pain and anger, it was that following advice of the lady currently positioned between her legs was the best course of action. With all her strength she pushed until she couldn't stand it, possibly breaking Carlton's hand with the extent of her grip. Once again the push fell short.

One of the accompanying nurses piped up on the progress. "You're doing great Miss O'Hara. It's just a little more. You can do it."

Juliet hated the perky nurse. She wished that the woman would just shut up. It was disgusting how that smile remained on her face while watching Juliet in such agony.

"Mind cutting the sweet talk, nurse." Carlton had spoken up on Juliet's behalf, knowing full well how the overly cheery birthing nurses pissed her off. He brushed a few stray hairs of Juliet's forehead, managing to focus on her enough to realise she wasn't thrilled with his reaction.

"That goes for you too! Where's the man who is known for his motivation? Where is the guy that strikes fear into criminals and keeps me safe? Save the sensitive crap for later and focus! I need you!"

Carlton trusted Juliet, knowing she always had his back. Now she needed him. Knowing that gave him the strength to truly focus on the task at hand. He gripped Juliet's hand tightly and stared her right in the face as she prepared to push again. All this time Carlton had figured Juliet fell in love with the nice person he was becoming due to the baby. But her forceful words confirmed that feelings had clearly developed long before that. She had loved him for exactly who he was, as he did her, which was why they made such a great team.

"Alright, O'Hara! You're doing this! You're body was made to do this! Get your ass into gear and push this baby out! No turning back now, soldier! Do it for yourself! Get through the pain and push. Go!"

Hearing Carlton's loud and forceful encouragement caused Juliet to push herself to the limit. She couldn't see the progress but she knew it was close. The man she loved shouting at her like a borderline drill sergeant had the previously cheery nurse staring with confusion and slight fear. But it had Juliet beaming at him with love, as much as she could during childbirth anyway.

"One more push, Juliet. She'll be out. Give me one more big push."

Juliet took a deep breath and pushed with all her might. She screamed out with power, knowing that this was the last hurdle. After this it would all be worth it.

Sure enough, the last push did its work and the baby was forced out. Juliet flopped back and panted with relief, tears of joy rolling down her face as she managed to catch the first glance of the baby. Her and Carlton's baby girl. It was finally over, now time to reap the rewards of motherhood.

"How are you feeling?"

Juliet realised that Carlton was sliding his arms around her. She barely managed to pull her eyes away from the baby to give him a smile, snuggling closer into his warm embrace. It was just what she needed.

"Tired but happy." Juliet replied in a whisper, still a little dazed by the whole experience. She felt her eyes flutter closed slightly as she continued to inhale Carlton's scent, wishing she could fall asleep in his arms.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Carlton slipped away from Juliet's side for a moment in order to cut the umbilical cord. His hands were trembling with excitement, but he got the job done.

The man beamed with happiness and pride, yet still couldn't believe it was happening. It all meant so much more this time, since it was now for his child. Carlton took the baby from the doctor, just staring at the little face peeking out from the blanket she'd been wrapped in. A million thoughts were running through his mind, time feeling like it was standing still.

"Welcome to the world, beautiful girl."

The logical part of him knew that Juliet would want to hold their daughter. This suspicion was backed up by a touch to his forearm and a look from her triumphant eyes. Yet Carlton feared that if he let go of the little whimpering bundle in his arms, he would wake up and find that Juliet and his daughter were all just a blissful dream.

"She's just so amazing." He reluctantly handed the baby over to Juliet, who despite her exhaustion was radiating joy. "It's hard to believe that we created that."

Juliet held the baby close, feeling Carlton's arm return to being wrapped around her shoulder. Both of them just watching the life they had brought into the world. The moment was too perfect for words. The loving family, at last all together.

But a sense of urgency brought their fantasy to a halt.

"Doctor she's bleeding out!"

Juliet's breath hitched in her throat. No, they weren't going to ruin this. It couldn't be. Things were supposed to be great now – all three of them happy together. She turned to Carlton for reassurance, only to find him looking as panicked as she felt.

"She's having a postpartum hemorrhage. We have to act now."

Carlton could have sworn his heart stopped when he heard the words. He tried to regain control, reminding himself that he dealt with stressful situations on a daily basis. He forced his mind to focus on something, anything to will his brain into working properly. Juliet touched his hand, trying to hold on and stop the scared wails coming forth, to no avail.

"Carlton, what's going on. Please-"

He could barely make out Juliet's words. It was all so hasty and out of control. The man cursed himself for freezing when she needed him the most. He found himself apologising, with his eyes welling up helplessly. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Juliet was supposed to be happy, she was always happy. They were meant to be happy together.

"I love you, Juliet. You know I love you. Always have and always will."

Words began escaping his mouth so fast Carlton barely registered what he was saying. The man was pretty sure he'd declared his love many times over in the span of seconds. He hated what he had to do but, in order for the doctors to proceed, Carlton had to take the baby from Juliet's arms. He kept the innocent newborn clutched to his chest, feeling an indescribable amount of guilt.

Watching Juliet, hearing her in distress, the head detective couldn't remember a time when he'd felt so helpless. Now after so many years of keeping people at a safe distance, he had to place all his trust in medicine to save the woman he loved.

Looking down at his newborn daughter, the tears began to force their way forth again. At least there was something he could do, someone he could protect from harm. Even if everything else was horribly wrong.

* * *

**NOTE:** I know it's been ages since I updated. But this was a pretty crucial chapter and it's been hard to find the concentration these past few months. Hopefully the next instalment won't take so long...particularly considering how this chapter ended. But, despite the angst and drama, I hope you enjoyed reading this.


	25. Understanding

**Part 25:** Understanding

Carlton stood at the window of the hospital nursery. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, but it felt like an eternity, just watching the squirming little bundle that was his daughter. She didn't even have a real name, but nevertheless Carlton loved "Baby Girl O'Hara" like nothing else.

While tracing his fingers lightly on the glass window, he wished more than anything that this was the happy moment he dreamed it would be. For a few minutes, it had been just that; Juliet by his side and every simple movement his daughter made being something too amazing for words.

Now all he could think of was all the blood; the love of his life had been losing so much of it. He'd never imagined after many years of looking at crime scenes that the sight of blood could make him so physically ill.

Even worse was the look of Juliet herself. After going through all the pain and stress of delivery, she was presented with such a life-threatening ordeal. Doctors and nurses surrounded her yet again. One appeared to be pushing on her stomach, others were at her arms, and another was between her legs.

In her exhaustion, she had been crying out for Carlton and her baby, managing to catch his eye for a brief moment before a nurse blocked the way. For that second, Carlton had seen her face pale with fear. His protective instincts kicked in and he tried to rush to her side only to be held back and told to let the doctors do their job.

That was the last time Carlton had seen her.

The head detective shook his head violently trying to shake the image from his mind. He tried to concentrate on something else, despite knowing how futile the attempts would be. Even looking at his daughter, Carlton could only think about how her bleeding mother was the first thing she had seen of the world.

"I love you. You know I do." Carlton whispered in her direction, with some part of him hoping Juliet could pick up on it too. "I love you so much."

He had no idea what Juliet was going through. The doctor who explained it all to Carlton had called it "placenta accreta", as though somehow the name would make sense to him. He had said that they couldn't remove some attached placenta from Juliet's uterus manually, which caused her to keep bleeding out. She needed an emergency D&C and possibly a hysterectomy in order to save her life.

None of it made any real sense to Carlton. What he had been able to take away from the one-sided conversation was that Juliet may die, even if she didn't she might not be able to have other kids and he couldn't do a thing about fixing any of it.

His phone beeped once again to indicate a text message. Carlton brought his phone out each time, but couldn't bring himself to answer anyone. It appeared that while they had been in the delivery room, Shawn had spread the word around about the baby's arrival. Chances are the pseudo-psychic was still in the hospital waiting room, wondering how everything was going. What was Carlton meant to tell any of them?

So fate left him to do the only thing he could do. He had to watch the baby and make sure nothing happened to her; Baby Girl O'Hara was not going to be taken away from him. It was a pretty irrational fear, Carlton knew that. But with the combination of no control, sleep deprivation and lack of understanding, his paranoia had escalated. Now he didn't just prepare for worst case scenarios, he expected them.

"Excuse me. Sir?"

Carlton turned to the source of the interruption from his thoughts to find a nurse standing there. She appeared a little nervous in his presence. He braced himself for any news she might have on Juliet, whatever it may be.

"Maybe you'd be more comfortable in the waiting room." She placed a hand on his arm, as if trying to lead him away.

"I beg your pardon?" Carlton blinked in disbelief before scoffing. "That's it? Comfortable? Are you out of your mind, lady?"

"Okay, just calm down-"

All the impatience, hurt and anger came rushing forth like a tidal wave. Carlton couldn't hold back any longer. "I'm going to stay right here with my daughter unless you plan to roll her out to some surgery room as well. So until you have some news about Juliet I suggest you stay out of my way, you got that!"

Just as the nurse looked about ready to call security, or the equivalent, someone stepped in the break up the tense situation. Carlton shook his head at the appearance of none other than Shawn Spencer, once again.

"As you can see he's not in the best place right now. I'll wait with him until he calms down. Thank you, miss."

Carlton didn't know why he was remotely surprised, as the man had a habit of showing up wherever and whenever he felt like. Expecting a restless man to hang around in a waiting room was stupid at best. Besides, with Carlton's luck, it was only natural that the last person he wanted to see would be the one to show up at this moment of vulnerability.

"I bought you some coffee." Shawn held out a cup, sporting a look of concern on his face. "Looks like you may need it."

Carlton glared at the cup, wanting to throw the beverage at the nearest wall. "Get out of here Spencer. It's really not a good time for your crap right now."

"Really, Lassie I never would have guessed. But I'm not leaving here until I find out why I come back to _this_ instead of a happy family." Shawn's voice rose slightly to a firm tone, though he was trying to be somewhat sympathetic to an obviously broken Lassiter. "Where's Juliet?"

"I don't know." Carlton confessed, turning his attention back to the nursery and his daughter. Saying the words aloud brought him back to the sickening realisation that he really didn't have a clue what was going on. "She's probably in an operating room."

Shawn actually felt his heart skip a beat. He put the coffee and muffins he'd been holding on a nearby chair, unable to hold them due to his hands involuntary shaking. He didn't much feel like consuming anything now.

"What happened?"

His answer was silence, with Carlton clearly trying to ignore him. As curious as he was to know about Juliet's situation, Shawn knew better than to approach the subject directly. Instead he slowly walked up to Carlton's side. He followed the head detective's gaze to find the baby that was obviously his and Juliet's daughter. It wasn't just because the two babies next to her were boys, but because of the way she looked.

"Dude, is it possible that she looks that much like you?" Shawn pondered, hoping to get the other man talking a little.

"She may be the only child Juliet and I get to have." Carlton didn't know why he was telling Shawn of his problems. He just felt the urge to get it all out of his system. After the nurse and Spencer's impromptu appearances, Carlton was unable to swallow the frustration. But he could try and change the subject. "She doesn't even have a name yet."

"Well, how about Sweet Caroline?" Shawn went with the lighter subject for both their sakes. Clearly Carlton, who wasn't in much mood for talking anyway, needed something positive to focus on and Shawn wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was going on. "Maybe Mandy? Roxanne? Cleopatra, Joan of Arc or Aphrodite?"

Carlton couldn't blame Shawn for trying. It was obvious the lack of news worried the pseudo-psychic as well, but it was hopeless. He'd always been too serious and focused on the problem, even if it was out of his hands. As badly as Carlton wished he could just escape into light-heartedness in tense situations, it just wasn't in his nature.

"I just want to know that she's okay. Is that too much to ask?"

Shawn hesitated at the change of mood. He sighed and rolled with it, awkwardly trying to offer some comfort to the man who'd stolen his girlfriend. "You know Jules. She's not going to give up without a fight."

"What do you know?" Carlton snapped, balling his hands into fists. "You're not a doctor, or a surgeon. Hell, you're not even a psychic."

Shawn retorted, no longer holding back his own upset emotions. "What I do know is that someone I love is going through some kind of surgery and I have no idea what's going on because you don't want to tell me! So forgive me if I don't want to go back to the waiting room and dwell on that."

"Fine! You want to know all the details, Spencer?" Carlton turned from the nursery to stare Shawn right in the face while he ranted angrily. "Instead of being by Juliet's side, looking at the miracle we created together, I got to watch her bleed out and be subjected to even more pain than the delivery. Worst of all, I couldn't do a thing but watch her like that while a doctor tells me she needs surgery or she dies. And it was all because apparently some stupid bit of placenta got left behind!"

Carlton couldn't pin point when the single tear had fallen down his cheek, but he felt it. He breathed heavily, trying to hold back any more that dared come forth but one more slid down the other cheek. He wiped them away forcefully, hoping that Shawn hadn't seen though knowing full well he'd been caught in such a weak moment.

Shawn remained silent for a little while. He couldn't imagine seeing Juliet in that state. Despite everything, Shawn still loved her deeply and probably always would. A part of him was glad not to have the image permanently etched in his mind like he knew Carlton would have.

Just looking at the older man, any bit of animosity felt for the head detective disappeared. The only thing that bothered Shawn more than Juliet being with Lassiter was seeing people sad, especially those he knew well. He knew how he would feel if it were him in that position. Just catching a glimpse of Carlton's tears that he didn't dare admit to seeing, he realised that Carlton probably loved Juliet much more than he ever did, if such a thing were possible.

The pseudo-psychic placed a compassionate hand on the head detective's shoulder. "She'll be alright."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I have to believe it." Shawn replied honestly, while wondering if he actually did believe it. He only had what Carlton had told him to go on and that sounded touch and go at best.

The two just stood together by the nursery for a while, both of them keeping their focus on the baby in order to take it off other possibilities. Shawn would randomly suggest names to break the silence, having never been one for shutting up. At one point he had begun humming "Sweet Caroline", claiming he now had the song in his head after suggesting the name. Carlton didn't answer him, despite feeling secretly grateful for the fleeting changes of subject.

"I like the name Annabelle." Carlton randomly allowed himself to say quietly before sighing.

Before Shawn could reply, a doctor that Carlton recognised came into view. She barely had time to approach them before the head detective ran right up to her in desperation.

"How is she doing? Is everything alright?"

"She's recovering right now. The remaining placenta was removed without the need for a hysterectomy." The doctor explained. "We managed to control the bleeding but she did require a transfusion to make up the blood loss."

Carlton's heart was beating in his ears. "So you're saying that Juliet's alright?"

"She's resting and will be a little sore, but doing fine. She's certainly a fighter."

At the confirmation that Juliet was alive and doing well, Carlton let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. A smile came to his face at the freedom from worry and painfully waiting for answers. He was going to get his happy ending after all.

"Told you she'd pull through, Lassie." Shawn, also relieved by the news, held out his hand for a fist bump. It was met by an impromptu hug from an emotional Carlton.

"She's going to be alright." Carlton echoed the news, as if to reassure any lingering doubt in his mind.

Shawn, who had returned the hug out of respect, patted Carlton on the back. "I'm glad and all, but this is kind of an awkward moment right here."

Brought back to reality, the head detective suddenly realised exactly what he was doing. He stepped back and broke the hug suddenly, straightening himself out and avoiding Shawn's eye contact. Giving a nod that spoke volumes of gratitude, Carlton made his way to Juliet's room.

* * *

Juliet opened her eyes slightly, wondering where she was. There was brightness, causing her to blink a little. Everything appeared blurry but from what she gathered no-one appeared to be around her. It was a far cry from the chaotic scene she had witnessed before passing out; no doctors or nurses in sight. There also seemed to be no sign of her baby.

Wondering where she was, she began to remember that her baby had been taken by a worried and guilt-stricken Carlton. There was so much blood that doctors hands covered in it. Random medical terms were thrown back and forth while they pushed and prodded at her. Blinding lights kept flashing in her face as they wheeled her to another room.

What was going on now? Where was Carlton? Where was her baby?

For a brief and fearful moment, Juliet wondered if she had died. Her eyes began watering, which made her surroundings even more distorted. She gasped for air and suddenly felt the aches coming back to her. Clearly she was alive, but that did nothing to answer her questions.

Suddenly, an unclear figure appeared by her side. Something warm was on her shoulder. Then a familiar and kind voice was speaking to her, bringing her back. Confusion and terror began drifting away as she focused on nothing but that voice, willing her consciousness towards it.

"Juliet! Oh god, Juliet!"

As she became more alert, she felt the gentle hand stroking her face and met the gaze of caring blue eyes staring into hers. It took a moment for her vision to adjust and Carlton's features to come into clear view. He was smiling at her, squeezing her hand and kissing each finger like his life depended on it.

"I love you so much."

Juliet felt too stunned to respond. She looked around the room, confirming that she was still in the hospital. Carlton, the man she loved with all her heart, was comforting her. As it all became clearer, Juliet felt a sense of relief coming over her; until she realised that something was missing.

"Where's my baby?" Juliet looked around the room, finding no trace. She panicked as she turned to Carlton for answers.

"It's okay, it's okay." Carlton cupped her face, planting desperate kisses to her forehead to calm her.

Juliet pulled away, making an attempt to get out of bed despite the pain. "I have to find her. Where is she? What happened?"

A worried Carlton stepped in to stop her. "It's alright. Calm down. She's healthy and perfect and no doubt been waiting for you to hold her again. Just stay in bed and I'll get the doctor's to get her from the nursery."

Juliet listened to his voice as his hand trailed up her arm, grazing delicately over her shoulders and easing her into an embrace. He was speaking soothing words, which had the desired calming effect. She wanted nothing more than to melt in his arms and let it all out.

"I love you, Juliet."

Juliet allowed Carlton to hold her, slipping her own arm around him to deepen their affection. She could feel his heart beating rhythmically in her ear while breathing in the scent she didn't realise she had missed. A few emotional tears escaped Juliet's boundaries as she felt like a fool for thinking the worst.

"I love you, Carlton." Juliet whispered, burying her head in his shoulder.

Bringing her face to meet his, Carlton wiped her tears. "I'll get them to bring her to you. Just sit tight, I'll be right back." He seemed almost hesitant about leaving, keeping their eye contact for as long as he could.

Juliet brought herself to a sitting position, once again feeling sore as she did so. She watched her lover run to fetch a doctor and sighed. More than anything she was desperate to hold her daughter and be with her new family. But as relieved as she felt, Juliet was curious as to what had happened while she was unconscious.

Carlton was back by her side in a flash, wasting no time in taking her back into his arms. "I told them you're awake, you're doing well and insisted they bring her in. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Carlton, what happened to me?" Juliet asked, running her fingers into his hair. "I remember bleeding, then being wheeled through the hospital. What did they do?"

"Do you really want to know?" Carlton asked, hesitant to break up the joyful moment.

Juliet stared at him, implying her answer with a gaze. She knew that Carlton wouldn't lie to her, even though he clearly wanted to. Her hand fell from his hair and she began to lightly play with his ear.

"Please."

Carlton pinched his nose and told her what he could. "You had to have surgery to get some placenta out. They've been checking on you every now and again. The doctors can explain it better than I can." He pressed a firm kiss to her lips, feeling a pleasurable tingle run through him as Juliet's fingers caressed his earlobe. "I've been waiting for hours for you to wake up. I know I've said it a million times but I'm just happy that you're safe and that you're here."

Juliet pressed her forehead to his and finally relaxed enough to allow a smile. Obviously her absence had scared Carlton too and right now they needed each other. "Why would I want to be anywhere but with you?"

Both of them surrendered into the moment, happy to be together once again. Their eye contact didn't dare break, except for when the overwhelming urge to kiss arose. The couple kept their foreheads pressed together, just taking each other in.

Juliet touched Carlton's cheek, a single finger tracing a tired ring under his eye. "You look tired. Didn't you get any sleep?"

"Sleep was the least of my concerns." Carlton whispered, slipping his own hand over the one on his face. "The important thing is how you're feeling."

"I'm sore and confused. But I get to be with you and see my baby girl, so how can I complain." Juliet replied, glancing to the door in eager anticipation of holding her baby again. "You two are the most precious things in my life."

"You're an amazing woman, you know that?" Carlton still couldn't believe his luck that Juliet was still sitting beside him, wanting to be his.

A nurse came in, wheeling in the little bed that held Baby Girl O'Hara. Juliet's eyes lit up and she gushed, letting out a soft laugh at seeing the little bundle. Before they had even reached the bed side, the new mother was reaching out.

"Here you go Miss O'Hara. Congratulations. Someone may come to check on you in a little while."

Juliet gingerly took her daughter, cradling the curious new life. The feeling of holding her once again brought on another round of emotional tears. Despite everything, she couldn't remember ever having a happier moment.

"Thank you." Carlton nodded to the nurse, who seemed genuinely happy for the couple, before turning all his attention back to Juliet and his daughter.

"We have a baby girl." Juliet wiped at her tears, looking at the tiny eyes staring back at her. "She's so perfect."

Carlton reached over and took his daughter's tiny hand in his own. The feeling of happiness overwhelmed him and he couldn't help but smile. It wasn't a dream; he really had been given the best blessing in his life.

"She's going to need a name." Juliet turned to Carlton with an earnest expression. "She has a strong heart and I want to name her after one of the strongest hearts I know."

"What did you have in mind?"

"It seems kind of silly for a girl but I knew from the moment I heard her heartbeat I wanted to name her after you." Juliet explained, lightly tickling her daughter's cheek and admiring her soft, tiny features. "I know we can't exactly call her Carlton but - I don't know, maybe I'm just being ridiculous."

"If that's what you want, who am I to argue?" Carlton planted a kiss on Juliet's lips. He did wonder how the suggestion would work but figured he would go with it and accept Juliet's heart-felt wish. "What did you have in mind?"

"Something that sounds similar. Carly is the most obvious, but maybe Car-"

Carlton didn't know why he did it; whether it was the tiredness or Shawn's humming getting the song in his head, the name just came flying out of his mouth. "Caroline."

Before Carlton could take back what he said, imagining how Shawn would react, he caught Juliet positively beaming at him. Then he looked at his daughter, who was looking back at him with what Carlton would swear was an understanding look. Whether he liked it or not, that was her name.

"Caroline." Juliet echoed happily, giving Carlton's hand a squeeze. "I think she likes that."

"Caroline Juliet O'Hara." Carlton looked from Juliet to Caroline thoughtfully. "I think it's only right that she be named after you too."

"Then it's Caroline Juliet O'Hara-Lassiter." Juliet corrected, wrapping an arm around Carlton's neck and bringing him in for a passionate kiss, only pulling back when Caroline began to softly whine.

"It's perfect." Carlton hadn't felt so happy in a long time. To him and to those that knew him it was a newsworthy moment. For this reason he found himself laughing happily and whipping out his cell phone eager to tell everyone about his amazing new daughter.

Juliet, having some other ideas, took the phone from his hand and gave him a flirtatious grin. "I know you're excited but I think I want you and Caroline to myself for an hour."

Carlton grabbed his daughter's hand and surrendered into another deep kiss with Juliet. "I think I can deal with that."

* * *

NOTE: Finally updated. I was unplugged for a while, plus I kept re-writing bits of this chapter. But as you can see, it's a long and important part so I hope you can forgive me for the slight delay. I hope you enjoyed reading it, especially since Juliet is alright YAY! 'Til next chap :-)


	26. Welcome Home

**Part 26:** Welcome Home

Juliet couldn't wait to get out of her hospital room and finally be back at home. While she had understood the need to stay an extra few days for precautions, especially after they explained what had happened to her, the desire to get back to the reality waiting for her was too great. She had a sneaking suspicion that Carlton had a hand in them finally letting her go, but at this point Juliet didn't care.

Throughout those days she'd been checked out many times by the doctors to make sure she was alright. These check ups were made bearable by the various visitors and flowers she had received. Many people from the station had stopped by briefly to congratulate her and take a glimpse at Caroline. Even though word had spread about her surgery, no-one said much about it.

Carlton had barely left her side the entire time, showing his devotion to his new family. It made the hours of waiting pass a little quicker. The only reason he ever left was when she insisted on him going home to get some rest or freshen up. The head detective was reluctant, until Juliet had compassionately ordered him to take care of himself.

He'd always made sure Juliet felt his love. Even when he'd left the first time, he and Juliet kept text messaging each other until they both managed to get a little shut eye. The other times he was never absent from the room for very long, coming back in desperation to hold his new daughter and check on his lover.

Now Juliet was sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting for him. Carlton had gone to set up the house for their arrival and pick up the carrier needed to take Caroline home. She excitedly told her daughter of all the new toys and things in her nursery.

"It has pretty pink wallpaper with flowers on it. I'm sure you'll love it. Daddy and Shawn helped set it up just for you."

At the mention of his name, Juliet's mind flashed briefly to Shawn. He had visited three times over her hospital stay, twice with Gus. The one time had he come alone, Carlton was also in the room. Despite his sweetness and Carlton being surprisingly nice to him, there was still the awkwardness hanging in the air. There did however, seem to be some kind of in-joke between the two men about the name Caroline.

Juliet looked down and smiled at Caroline, who was currently feeding off Juliet's breast. It was beyond obvious that everything was going to change from now on. Some would be big and others would be subtle but definitely different. The current bonding between mother and daughter was a change that Juliet was happily getting used to.

"There you go. I love you beautiful girl."

Caroline looked up at her mother curiously, beginning to close her eyes to sleep again, while Juliet adjusted her shirt and looked back down in awe. This had happened many times in the days since the birth, but no matter how many hours they stared at each other it had yet to lose its thrill.

Carlton stepped into the room, simply watching both of them. He smiled widely, as he'd found himself doing many times over the last few days. In fact the new father was sure he'd smiled more in the past few days than in the last ten years.

"The hospital says you have to be wheeled out to the exit. It's just hospital procedure, they insisted."

Juliet shook her head and stood up. "I'm really not in the mood for protocol right now. I've stayed, I've been prodded, and I'm leaving now."

Carlton touched her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I know, but if you're going to do that then I insist you let me take Caroline out to the car."

"Carlton!" Juliet snapped, eager to get going.

"Juliet." Carlton stared back at her seriously.

Juliet groaned in response. She knew that Carlton meant well and was probably doing the right thing. But she was okay now and yet people kept implying she wasn't.

"Look, what happened scared both of us. I know that you care and you're looking out for me but please stop treating me like I'm helpless. It's bad enough that the doctor's keep doing it but I really don't need it from you."

Carlton knew that, in the past, he'd treated Juliet a little too gingerly much to her annoyance. But it was only because he cared about her well-being, probably too much. After seeing what she had gone through, he knew that part of him had probably reared its head over the days passed.

"Come here." Carlton held Juliet close, lightly rocking her while petting the sleeping Caroline's head. "I know it's infuriating and I'm sorry if I've been a little over-cautious but we'll be home free soon enough."

A doctor came in with a wheelchair, motioning for Juliet to sit down. "Are you ready, Miss O'Hara?"

"Fine!" Juliet sighed. But when she turned to Carlton, she was unable to stay bitter for too long. "You know if I didn't love you so much I'd never let you do this."

"I love you too." Carlton whispered, sealing his words with a soft kiss to Juliet's earlobe. "Now let's get the heck out of here."

Juliet kept holding Caroline close as she sat down in the wheelchair. They pushed her down the halls, the fluorescent lights above causing her to flash back to the days before. She closed her eyes tightly until they reached the elevator. Maybe she wasn't completely one hundred per cent mentally, but home couldn't come soon enough. She'd feel better being back in her own place.

Things would take some getting used to, no doubt about it. As Juliet opened her eyes again, meeting Caroline's face, she knew that the reward was worth the pain. That didn't mean she wanted to be back in the hospital any time soon.

When they had wheeled her out the exit and allowed her to move freely, Juliet didn't look back. She didn't want to see that building for a long time.

"Take us home, Carlton."

* * *

Juliet, with Caroline in her arms, stood in awe looking around the nursery. The excitement of being home had tripled once she stepped into the baby's room. While Carlton had explained to her about what he'd done, modestly saying he'd moved a few things around and organised the room a little, everything she saw had surpassed expectations.

The pink flower wallpaper turned out even better than she'd hoped. The white crib, now with a cute and colourful fish mobile attached to it, was against one wall. The changing table, complete with necessary supplies, was against the other. By the window sat a nice wicker chair that Juliet hadn't seen before, as Carlton must have bought it recently. The many toys, along with a few children's books were sitting on a set of pink shelves by the door.

It was perfect.

"How did you do all of this stuff?" Juliet gushed as she noticed Carlton stepping into the room.

"Most of the wallpaper had been done already. The chair was on sale and I just had to have it. The rest was just organising furniture." Carlton walked over to Juliet and wrapped an arm around her.

"You're being modest. I know what a perfectionist you are. This must have taken a few days. I don't know how you found the time." Juliet leaned her head on Carlton's shoulder, softly bouncing Caroline in her arms. "Thank you so much."

"It doesn't matter how long it took. It's all for her. She's more than worth it." Carlton lightly stroked Caroline's cheek. "Plus if it makes you happy, that's just a bonus."

"Okay, it's no longer possible to fall any deeper in love with you than I am right now." Juliet kissed his cheek three times in succession.

Carlton squeezed Juliet's waist, looking around the nursery before turning back to her. "Well I accept the challenge."

"You're going to make me melt with a baby in my arms, you know that right?"

Carlton reached towards his daughter, wanting another turn at holding the precious bundle. "Maybe you should let me take her then."

Juliet clutched Caroline closer and shook her head. "Not right now, please. I need more mother daughter time."

Carlton felt a little miffed, but one look at Juliet's face wiped it away. He knew exactly how she felt and didn't want to take away her positive glow. A smile came to his face as he agreed to wait for his turn. He had a whole life time with Caroline after all.

"Okay. Then would you like me to make you some tea?"

Juliet nodded and smiled right back at him. She watched as her lover walked towards the door. It was hard to believe she'd been so lucky in what was essentially a desperate impulse. Before Carlton could leave her sight completely, she had to let him know.

"I'm so lucky to have you."

"I think it's fair to say that I'm the lucky one here." Carlton told her before resuming his walk to the kitchen. The whole thing was so unbelievable to him as even with Victoria he'd never felt this way about a woman. He couldn't stop the sap if he tried.

As he waited for the water to boil, Carlton began to contemplate the future with Juliet and Caroline. He wouldn't rush Juliet into commitment or himself into a second marriage, even though that seemed where they would inevitably end up. He did want more kids eventually and hoped Juliet did too, despite her ordeal; but that was also something to bring up much later.

Right now, where they were, was just right. They were officially together, without the previous doubts hanging in the air. They had Caroline, who was too beautiful for words. There was no point trying to mess with that by making any rash decisions and risk losing each other.

Just as he was pouring the tea, Carlton could hear Juliet's excitement from down the hall. She ran into the kitchen and vigorously motioned him to come to the nursery. He followed her with the same enthusiasm, holding the mugs of tea carefully, spilling a little on his hands with his haste.

"Come and look at this. She's asleep in her new crib."

Carlton handed Juliet her mug and peered over into the crib he had made. Sure enough, Caroline was resting peacefully on her purple fish-patterned sheets. It was something so simple, yet both parents couldn't tear their eyes away from the sight.

"Do you think we'll ever get tired of doing this?" Carlton whispered before taking a sip of his tea. Not really being a tea drinker, he immediately set it aside on the window sill.

"Not when she's this cute." Juliet replied, trying to stop herself from squealing in delight. "We should probably just let her sleep, but I can't bring myself to leave her yet. Is that just too much?"

"That's why I bought the chair." Carlton sat down and eased Juliet into his lap. It was a bit of a squeeze for two, but neither seemed to care. He began stroking Juliet's hair, watching as the new mother sipped her tea and stared at the crib.

At feeling herself being watched, Juliet turned to meet Carlton's gaze and giggled flirtatiously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you're beautiful." Carlton answered simply.

Juliet set her mug of tea down beside the chair, freeing her hands to sneak around Carlton's shoulders. She snuggled up closer to him. "After all those years of trying to convince yourself that I wasn't hot."

Carlton's fingers trailed lightly up and down Juliet's arm, there was something very tantalising about her teasing him. "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

"You know I'm just having fun with you." Juliet drew his face closer to hers. "Come here."

The couple proceeding in kissing passionately and freely, something they hadn't managed to do so much at the hospital. It was a relief to have this alone time to be affectionate without the fear of someone bursting in on them.

Juliet began sliding off Carlton's lap, coaxing him down onto the floor. The man had no objections to falling right with her, continuing to make out hungrily until they both lay down together on the carpet.

Trailing off the kisses with a few light pecks, Juliet eased Carlton back a little. "Maybe we should stop. Caroline's sleeping right there and you know I can't have sex until the doctor says its okay."

"You know I'm not going to rush you." Carlton sighed and brushed a few strands of hair off Juliet's face. "No matter how frustratingly bad I want you right now."

"Carlton!" Juliet played with the buttons on his shirt, lightly fingering the chest hairs in view. "We'll just have to be patient but its a few weeks, tops."

"I've been waiting too long for you to be mine. Besides, I'm sure the doctor said nothing about making out." Carlton's wound his arm back around Juliet's waist, pulling her closer.

"Come on. Caroline-"

Carlton couldn't wait any longer. He forced his lips onto Juliet's, cutting her off, nibbling softly until she responded. After a few shocked giggles against his lips, Juliet opened her mouth and allowed Carlton's tongue to dance with hers. It took her back to the intense afternoon when they'd first explored each other and reminded her of how surprisingly frisky Carlton could be when turned on.

"Whoa sweetie!" Juliet squealed as Carlton pulled her on top of him. "I thought we were playing it a little cool."

"Would you get back down here? God I don't remember you being this much of a tease. Isn't it bad enough I can't actually have you right now?" Carlton caressed Juliet's neck with his hand, trying to bring her face back down to his.

"Tease?" Juliet raised her eyebrows. She grabbed Carlton's wrists, dragging his arms above his head and pinning them there. "That one will cost you."

"Okay, this might be getting a little too hot."

Juliet started at Carlton's ear, biting his earlobe, before leading a very long and slow trail of kisses towards his mouth. She knew it probably wasn't the wisest move to be working him up so much, as it was obvious how excited he was already, but resisting the foreplay was something Juliet couldn't bring herself to do. They had been through too much, waiting for this time together.

Once Juliet's lips hit his, the grip on his wrists had relaxed enough for Carlton to break free and completely embrace his lover. In his enthusiasm he rolled Juliet over and took place on top of her. Having moved his hungry mouth to her collarbone, he began sucking on the skin and savouring the taste of her.

However, the crazed foreplay ended abruptly when Carlton felt a hot liquid splash against his leg.

"What the hell?" Carlton pulled back, batting at the stain that covered half his pant leg.

"We spilt the tea!" Juliet cried out, wiping off some of the liquid that had splashed on her. "It's getting a stain on the carpet." Though her concern seemed genuine, she couldn't control her laughter.

"We're not even here one day and there's a mess. And it's not even from the baby." Carlton turned to Juliet, a little annoyed at her laughing. His nose caught something in the air. "Though I do believe Caroline needs a change right now."

That statement set Juliet off into another fit of amusement. Carlton shook his head, irritated that their make out session was now over, but soon found that he was chuckling along with her. Pretty soon the two of them were laughing together on the floor.

"Okay, you should probably change her." Carlton said while calming down and standing up.

"You're the one that wanted to hold her, so now's your chance." Juliet smiled playfully, taking the hand that Carlton offered to help her up. "You wouldn't want all your practice on the fake baby to go to waste now."

Carlton smirked and rolled up his sleeves. He took Caroline out of the crib, the action causing the baby to wake up and whine. "It's time to see the master of fatherhood at work."

He held his daughter for a few seconds to comfort her, the smile fading from his face as the stench wrinkled his nose. He rushed Caroline to the change table, Juliet watching his every move and trying not to erupt in giggles again.

Setting up a fresh diaper and some wipes, Carlton took off Caroline's onesie and prepared himself for the smell. As he reached for the soiled diaper, he hoped to get things done as quickly and cleanly as possible.

"Need some help?" Juliet enquired, touching his arm.

"I can do this." Carlton pulled a disgusted face at what he saw. He made quick work of disposing of the dirty diaper in the nearby diaper genie. "Is it supposed to be that colour? Eww."

Carlton proceeded in wiping the baby, his sour face being replaced by concentration as his paternal instincts began to kick in. Just like he'd practised on his fake doll baby, Carlton prepared the clean diaper and managed to change Caroline without further complaint. He felt rather proud as he secured the last tab. Delight took over his expression as he put the baby onesie back on Caroline and scooped her up for a hug.

"I'm impressed." Juliet stated, admiring the way Carlton seemed so natural in rocking Caroline in his arms.

"It was nothing." The head detective replied, kissing Caroline on the forehead. "Piece of cake."

"But it seems the master of fatherhood missed a spot of doody on his hand." Juliet picked up a wipe, cleaning the spot on Carlton's hand before grasping it in her own. "Now just be prepared to do it eight times a day and everything will be peachy."

The sudden dose of reality put a look of astonishment on Carlton's face. "No turning back. We're really parents now." He looked down at Caroline falling back to sleep in his arms. "Can you believe it?"

Juliet nodded, touching his cheek. "We'll be great at it."

* * *

NOTE: A light-hearted chapter after all the drama. Though the fics not quite over yet. Let's see how they adapt to being parents. Thanks for reading!


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